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Binance May Face Criminal Charges In Spanish Court
A Spanish court is investigating Binance for alleged misappropriation of funds in 2021. According to local media, plaintiff “JL” accused the exchange of withholding his €67,550 investment.
Judge María Ángeles Velázquez claimed that JL demonstrated “sufficient criminal motives” on Binance’s part and gave his legal team 10 days to present their formal indictment.
Binance Might Need to Answer to a Spanish Court
Binance, one of the world’s leading cryptocurrency exchanges, is facing yet another legal trouble. The exchange faces accusations of market manipulation, albeit without formal criminal charges.
IYesterday, French authorities investigated Binance for money laundering, and a Spanish judge launched a new case today:
“The head of the 27th Court of Instruction of Madrid, María Ángeles Velázquez, explained that there are ‘sufficient criminal motives’ and agreed to end the investigation after having carried out the ‘pertinent’ proceedings,” a local media outlet claimed. Court officials refused to make further comments due to the ongoing nature of the case.
Specifically, Velázquez is addressing complaints against Binance from a Spanish businessman, initially filed in 2023.
This plaintiff, “JL,” accused the exchange of misappropriating €67,550 that he put on the exchange, alleging that Binance never gave him an access code. He attempted to recover the funds for two years before filing his complaint.
Now that Velázquez is sympathetic to JL’s arguments, he and his legal team have ten days to present their evidence and request penalties.
After this, Velázquez will decide whether Binance will face a formal legal battle in the Spanish judicial system. However, if JL provides insufficient evidence, she may dismiss the claim entirely. The exchange is also facing a similar class action lawsuit in the US.
“Many lawyers have clients with this same case. The exchange is blocking €67,000 and no one assists the user. If the ban is lifted, Binance will have a bad time in Spain. By the way, without things like MiCA, this guy would have nothing to do. Regulation is bad until we need it,” wrote Cris Carrascosa, a Spanish lawyer.
Additionally, the prosecutor called on former CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao to testify, and he either refused or outright ignored it. Binance has operated in Spain for several years, but this isn’t CZ’s first clash with the Spanish legal system.
He was named in another misappropriation suit in 2022, but this was apparently settled out of court.
Overall, this adds to a mounting pile of lawsuits against Binance across the globe. Although the exchange has been committed to regulatory compliance in different regions since the DOJ’s settlement in 2023, the surfacing lawsuits can damage its credibility.
Despite these legal troubles, Binance is still looking to rebuild itself. Binance Labs rebranded as an “independent” research institution, allowing CZ to officially join despite his lifetime ban from the exchange.
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