A former senior official of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) thinks global crypto exchange Binance is “clearly preparing” for criminal charges in the United States.
John Reed Stark, who founded the SEC’s Office of Internet Enforcement and served as its chief for 11 years, points on the fact that Binance added George Canellos, a former prosecutor, to their legal defense team as evidence, the exchange expects prosecution.
Stark explains,
“Canellos possesses a rare and remarkably special combination of skills – he has served as both an SEC prosecutor and a prosecutor for the Department of Justice (DOJ). Think Liam Neeson meets Perry Mason.
Binance is clearly preparing for a criminal prosecution and continues to hire the best lawyers in the world. But I doubt even Ironman, Captain America and the Hulk can pull Binance out of their current perilous legal quagmire.”
Canellos is a partner and the global chief of litigation and arbitration at New York City-based law firm Milbank LLP. He bills itself as “more than two decades of experience prosecuting and defending white collar criminal and civil suits arising under the securities laws.”
Canellos previously worked for the SEC for 4.5 years, including a stint as co-director of the enforcement division. Previously, he also served as an Assistant U.S. Attorney at the Southern District of the New York U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Citing the level of fraud alleged by the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Stark predicts that the US Department of Justice (DOJ) will “demand jail time” for anyone convicted of crimes related to Binance.
Last week, the SEC indicted Binance and its CEO Changpeng Zhao over what chairman Gary Gensler called “an elaborate web of deceit, conflict of interest, lack of disclosure and calculated evasion of the law.”
In addition, the regulator accuses the company of selling unregistered securities, including Binance’s native token, BNB.
Other prominent digital assets considered securities by the SEC include Cardano (ADA), Polygon (MATIC), and Solana (SOL).
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