Changpeng Zhao, the Binance founder recently pardoned by Donald Trump, has been accused in a court complaint filed by relatives of victims of the October 7 attack on Israel of facilitating payments to Hamas.
Zhao and crypto exchange Binance are accused of providing "substantial assistance" to Hamas and Hizbollah, helping the groups hide the movement of millions of dollars, according to the complaint.
The complaint has been filed by American citizen family members of victims of the attack on October 7, according to the Financial Times.
The activity continued even after Binance reached a $4.3 billion deal in November 2023 to settle US allegations that the exchange failed to maintain a proper anti-money laundering programme, operated an unlicensed money-transmitting business and violated sanctions law.
Zhao himself was sentenced to four months in prison after pleading guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act and causing a financial institution to violate the same act.
Last month, he was pardoned by Donald Trump after months and shortly after The Wall Street Journal reported that the Trump family’s own crypto venture, World Liberty Financial, has been helped by “a partnership with an under-the-radar trading platform quietly administered by Binance”.
The complaint alleges that Binance facilitated more than $50 million in transactions to accounts linked to Hamas, Hizbollah, Iran's Revolutionary Guards, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad, according to the FT.
Say lawyers in the suit: "Binance ensure that terrorists and other criminals could deposit and shuffle enormous sums on the exchange with impunity."
In a statement to the FT, Binance says it cannot comment on ongoing litigation, adding that it complied with "internationally recognised sanctions laws, consistent with other financial institutions".