WASHINGTON D.C. – U.S. prosecutors are looking into filing money laundering charges against Binance, the world’s largest crypto exchange. The charges would also target individual executives at the exchange, including Changpeng (“CZ”) Zhao, according to a Reuters report. 

U.S. attorneys at the Dept. of Justice have alleged that Binance has aided and abetted the illegal transfer of money by criminal actors. Other DOJ prosecutors have stated that there is not enough evidence to file criminal charges, causing a rift in the department. 

Binance took to Twitter to respond to the Reuters report and the DOJ allegations:

Binance has a robust crime-fighting operation. A spokesperson for Binance stated, “regulators are doing a sweeping review of every crypto company against many of the same issues…Binance has shown its commitment to security and compliance…to detect and deter illicit activity.”

Prosecutors have been eyeing Binance since 2018 when the Seattle U.S. Attorney’s Office began investigating the exchange for illegal transfers of funds.