Survivors of the October 7th terrorist attack (including victims of the Nova music festival massacre and the wife of an Israeli man currently held prisoner in Gaza) have reported that the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Binance, has been accused of He was accused of providing “support”. Group by allowing funding on the platform.
A deadly Hamas rampage left 1,200 people dead, 250 kidnapped, scores of women raped and nearly 7,000 injured, according to a civil lawsuit filed by lawyers working with the National Jewish Defense Center. Cryptocurrency companies’ financial support for “cannot be overstated.” Central District of Alabama, USA.
According to the Department of Justice, Binance brokered nearly $900 million in trade between U.S. customers and Iran from January 2018 to May 2022 in violation of U.S. sanctions. Iran is a known financier of terrorist organizations.
“A lot of that money went to Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, al-Qaeda, ISIS,” Mark Golfider, one of the survivors’ attorneys, told the Post. “Binance has blood in its veins.”
Former Binance CEO Qiao Changpeng pleaded guilty to a felony charge in November and paid a $50 million fine. A cryptocurrency company paid a hefty $4.3 billion settlement after it was found to have violated U.S. sanctions and failed to stop money laundering on its exchanges.
“Everything we claim is true [Binance] I have already admitted that,” Golfider said.
A new lawsuit finds that Binance was involved in 1.5 million transactions that violated U.S. sanctions, and that the cryptocurrency company “deliberately failed to report” more than 100,000 suspicious transactions.
“Binance and its affiliates have knowingly and knowingly provided material support to Hamas and other despicable terrorist organizations by facilitating the transfer of funds for many years,” David Schon, lead attorney in the case, said in a statement. We have provided it,” he said.
Although it is difficult to track exactly how much money terrorist groups have raised from Binance, wall street journal According to the report, Palestinian Islamic Jihad earned $93 million from cryptocurrencies from August 2021 to June 2023, while Hamas raised $41 million over a similar period.
Plaintiffs Adin Guess, Noah Newman, Maya Pariser, Natalie Sanandaj, Yoni Diller, Hadar Almog, Rishay Ravi, David Bromberg, and Ariel Aingal are seeking a jury trial. and hopes to be awarded hundreds of dollars in damages. Collected millions of dollars and forced cryptocurrency companies to establish a general survivor and hostage fund for victims of Hamas attacks.
Federal investigators have revealed that Binance was fully aware that its platform was being used to raise funds by Hamas, and an employee said in an internal communication, “I can see the bad side, but I have two eyes.” It’s crushed,” he said.
“Binance ignored its legal obligations in the pursuit of profit. This intentional failure allowed money to flow through its platform to terrorists, cybercriminals, and child abusers,” said Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen. . said in a statement.
Other employees proved even more indifferent to the use of Binance’s platform by Hamas and other terrorist groups to raise funds.
According to the CTFC complaint, former Binance chief compliance officer Samuel Lim was later found to have paid a $1.5 million fine for violating terms. Commodity Exchange Act – When I explained that terrorists would use their platform for microtransactions because anything over $600 constitutes money laundering, my colleague replied that Hamas “can barely buy an AK 47 for $600.”
A Binance compliance employee once joked that the company’s slogan should be, “Is it too hard to launder drug money these days?” Come to Binance, we’ve got the cake for you,” the Department of Justice said.
“It’s better to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission,” Chao, the former CEO who is out on $175 million bail and awaiting sentencing, told employees.
Plaintiff Adin Ghesu was not home at the time of the brutal Hamas attack, but on WhatsApp he witnessed the terrorist group massacre his friends and neighbors at Kibbutz Horit on October 7, saying he was “shocked.” ” he said. [Binance’s] Callous indifference. ”
“They knew where the money was going and what Hamas could do. My friends died in part because they knowingly gave the money to the bad guys,” Guess said. he told the Post.
Guess said the plaintiffs want to “draw a red line” with this lawsuit and send a message that companies cannot “blatantly break the law, hurt others, and laugh at the banks.”
“My family has been through hell and… [Binance] They contributed to that suffering… They hurt thousands of people,” Guess told the Post.
Binance did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.
