Calvin Cheng, a former nominated member of Singapore's parliament, has expressed his views on the sentencing of Changpeng Zhao (CZ), the ex-CEO of Binance. He drew parallels between Zhao's case and those of CEOs from BNP Paribas and UBS, stating that they were fined "for the exact same charge of compliance failures" as CZ. However, he pointed out that these executives "were not charged, much less sentenced to prison." Cheng made this statement in a post dated May 1, following CZ's four-month prison sentence for anti-money laundering compliance failures.
"I find it curious that some people think that @cz_binance ‘s sentence was lenient," said Cheng, according to a post on X. "BNP Paribas was fined more than double what Binance was (9 billion) for the exact same charge of compliance failures regarding sanctioned countries and organisations. UBS was fined about the same (4 billion) for the same failures. Their CEOs were not charged, much less sentenced to prison."
In November, according to a press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), CZ agreed to plead guilty to violating the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) by failing to implement adequate anti-money laundering controls at the inception of Binance. At this point, CZ stepped down from his role as CEO while the company agreed to pay a fine amounting to $4.3 billion.
The DOJ issued another press release in 2014 concerning global financial institution BNP Paribas (BNPP). The bank was fined $8.97 billion for conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the Trading with the Enemy Act. The DOJ found that BNPP had "knowingly and willfully" moved $8.8 billion through the U.S. financial system on behalf of sanctioned entities, using third-party institutions to route illegal payments and thus conceal its role in this process. While the bank agreed to plead guilty to one charge of systemically violating U.S. economic sanctions, no executives of the bank were charged with crimes.
In 2019, Courthouse News Service reported that a French court ordered UBS, a leading global wealth management bank, to pay fines totaling $4.2 billion for facilitating tax evasion for its clients who allegedly managed to illegally conceal assets worth $10.75 billion.
Following his sentencing, CZ stated, "I will do my time, conclude this phase and focus on the next chapter of my life (education)," in a post. He also said that Binance had been under scrutiny throughout this process but assured that customer funds remained safe.
According to his website, Cheng is a Singaporean entrepreneur and businessman. In addition to these roles, he serves as the first Honorary Consul and Chief of Diplomatic Mission of the Republic of Serbia to the Republic of Singapore. He is also recognized as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.
