Binance Holdings Ltd’s Changpeng Zhao won’t be able to return to his home in the United Arab Emirates for now, a federal judge in Seattle ruled, putting on hold a decision allowing him to leave the US before his sentencing.
US District Judge Richard Jones on Monday stayed a ruling granting the multi-billionaire’s request to return to the UAE before his February sentencing. US prosecutors have asked the court to reverse that decision.
Prosecutors have said there is a “substantial risk” that Zhao, who pleaded guilty last week to anti-money laundering and US sanctions violations as part of a broad agreement with the government, won’t return to the US because of his significant assets, his ties to the UAE and the inability to extradite him.
Read More: Binance’s Zhao Shouldn’t Be Allowed to Travel to UAE, US Says
--With assistance from Yueqi Yang.