The US Department of Justice (DOJ) is investigating possible violations of Russian sanctions by Binance, Bloomberg reported on May 5.
In particular, the DOJ’s national security division plans to determine whether Binance or its executives have circumvented the sanctions surrounding the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Numerous sanctions of this type were imposed in early 2022, and Binance seemingly responded by limiting its services to Russia in April 2022.
The investigation parallels another ongoing investigation from the DOJ’s criminal perspective, according to Bloomberg’s sources.
Binance and its executives have not yet been charged with any wrongdoing and the investigation has not been officially announced or previously reported, Bloomberg said. Instead, it obtained its information from five knowledgeable individuals.
Bloomberg sources said that Binance has previously interacted with the DOJ to resolve other compliance issues, particularly those related to Iran sanctions evasion.
Incidentally, on May 4, Senator Elizabeth Warren spoke about Binance’s role in handling cryptocurrency from Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
Elsewhere, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed suit against Binance on March 27 alleging that Binance allowed users to illegally access commodities.
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