Binance and its founder, Changpeng Zhao, face a class-action lawsuit in the United States and are accused of enabling money laundering activities via crypto.

The lawsuit, filed on Aug. 16 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington, accuses Binance of enabling money laundering activities using cryptocurrency as a delivery system.

“Binance.com became a preferred-choice as the “get-away driver” for a large number of bad actors,” the lawsuit read. 

The plaintiffs — Philip Martin, Natalie Tang, and Yatin Khanna — claim that Binance’s lax compliance measures allowed criminals to launder stolen crypto and hide the origins of the illicit funds. 

According to the lawsuit, stolen crypto was funneled through Binance, making them difficult to trace due to the platform’s inadequate Know Your Customer protocols. The plaintiffs argue that this violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, which targets illegal activities as part of an ongoing criminal enterprise.

These cases include suing Facebook over consumer privacy violations, opioid manufacturers over opioids, and Wells Fargo over fraudulent accounts.

Binance’s fair share of legal issues

#The legal action follows Binance’s recent settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice, in which the company admitted to violating AML regulations and agreed to pay $4.3 billion in fines.