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Adam Moskowitz, who has been the lead attorney in many civil cases involving crypto companies, filed a motion to take a statement from the former CEO of Binance Changpeng “CZ” Zhao .
In a December 8 filing in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida Miami Division, Moskowitz said Zhao’s testimony will be “important to the claims and defenses of all parties” involved. The law firm filed the motion as part of a $1 billion lawsuit against Zhao, Binance and crypto influencers, which the court ordered to stay in August.
Moskowitz and his firm have represented many clients in cases against top crypto companies and related entities. He acted as counsel for several victims of the FTX crash in a lawsuit against prominent crypto-trading promoters, as well as in a suit alleging investors who suffered loss from soccer player Cristiano Ronaldo introduces Binance’s nonfungible tokens.
“Naturally, since CZ is a defendant, we send a notice for his approval,” Moskowitz told Cointelegraph. “In our case, we both agreed to wait on the acquisition, until the judge rules on Binance’s demand to enforce our claims before the AAA arbitration association. Regardless (of) where we until then, CZ’s testimony will be important for all parties.
The crypto lawyer said the filing came in response to a Washington judge ordering Zhao to stay in the US until his sentencing in February 2024. In November, US authorities announced the $4.3 billion settlement with Binance for which CZ resigned as CEO and pleaded guilty. one felony charge.
“(E) has no idea how long CZ will be sentenced to prison, it may be 60 years or not, we have not been involved in the discussions between CZ and the government,” the said Moskowitz. “If there is no jail time, he will definitely flee back to the UAE. If jail time is available, it will not be easy to arrange and require a release from jail.”
I could still post, but I lost my sense of humor (if I had one) because of the frustration…
Watching TV is bad.
— CZ BNB (@cz_binance) December 4, 2023
Target: Binance said the decision to pull the Abu Dhabi licensing bid was unrelated to the US settlement
According to Moskowitz, Zhao’s plea to the federal charges, which allege a lack of protection during his time as Binance CEO, could support some of the plaintiffs’ claims in the government claims. The case accused Binance of promoting unregistered securities, although the US Securities and Exchange Commission – the body that oversees securities – is not a party to the decision and Zhao, Binance, and the government.
He added:
“Surely the SEC has not slowed down their own judgments with CZ and Binance and they still say that the BNB token is an unregistered security, so it’s $4 billion in value, it can really be zero in one minute.”
It’s unclear whether a judge will accept Moskowitz’s motion, since Zhao is no longer CEO of Binance and has stepped back from his leadership role. Cointelegraph reached out to Binance but did not receive a response at the time of publication.
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