A new Bloomberg article reported that Binance founder and former CEO Changpeng Zhao is now serving his time in Lompoc II as “Inmate 88087-510.”
As a consequence of his deal with the U.S. Department of Justice, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao is starting his four-month prison sentence in California, as bitcoin remains at its all-time high.
A Monday Bloomberg piece titled “The Richest Person to Do Time in a US Federal Lock Up” named him.
According to the story, the former CEO will serve his time at Lompoc II. This Santa Barbara County institution has a low-security section and a satellite camp next to it.
He was originally scheduled to report to the Seatac Federal detention center in Seattle because he was not a citizen of the United States, but he was later permitted to report to a lesser security, white-collar jail. He is currently known as inmate 88087-510.
Like the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, Seatac is largely used to house people awaiting trial or sentence for a variety of crimes, from homicide to fraud. According to the Bureau of Prisons website, 2,160 prisoners are housed at the Lompoc jail between its main building and an adjacent camp.
In April, Zhao was given a sentence of four months, which was much shorter than the three years that the prosecution had requested. Being a well-known person in the sector, he turned Binance from a startup in 2017 into a very prosperous exchange. Zhao has about $36.5 billion net worth, based on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Zhao paid a $4.3 billion fine after acknowledging to the US government last year that Binance did not have an adequate anti-money laundering mechanism in place.
He traveled from Dubai to Washington state, where he willingly turned himself in.
Sam Mangel, a prison specialist, told Bloomberg “He will be perfectly fine at Lompoc low. There are a lot of experiences that other inmates will be thirsty to hear about, especially in crypto.”
He added: “Now you have this guru coming in and being able to teach or educate them.”
Last year, GreatGameIndia reported that the DOJ announced that Binance pleaded guilty to money laundering, faces over $4 billion in fines, and Mr. Zhao consented to resign as CEO of Binance.
