Catherine Coley, who was part of Binance.US, reportedly retained a lawyer when the US government launched investigations into Binance, according to an article. published by Reuters on Wednesday (March 29).
James McDonald, former federal prosecutor and senior official with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, He’s the lawyer that Catherine Coley hired. to represent her in US government investigations against the cryptocurrency exchange, according to Reuters, citing a person with direct knowledge of the situation. .
However, court documents reveal that James McDonald, now a partner at the New York law firm Sullivan & Cromwell, acted as his attorney of record in a separate civil action against Binance.US in January 2022.
BINANCE.US AND OFFICIALS FACE INCREASED REGULATORY SCRUTINY
This disclosure occurs immediately after the reports that show that Binance spent years hiding its ties to Chinawhich contradicts the company’s claims that it had left China once the government began cracking down on the cryptocurrency business in 2017.
Two days earlier, on March 27, the CFTC also filed a lawsuit in federal court accusing Zhao, Binance Holdings Limited, Binance Holdings (IE) Limited, and Binance (Services) Holdings Limited of violating the Commodity Exchange Law and CFTC rules.
According to the report, Coley is not included in the civil case that was announcedand it is unknown how it is faring in the investigations of any other government agency.
It is said that Coley, in mid-2021, withdrawal from Binance.US after a dispute with Changpeng Zhao (CZ) over the management of the US exchange, which was created to serve US consumers in accordance with US regulations.
The CFTC said, without mentioning Coley, that when Zhao hired BAM Trading as the operating company for Binance.US, he called the international exchange Binance.com a “Pirate Ship» and stated that he wanted Binance.US to be a navy ship.
According to the demand, Zhao continued to expand and hide the exchange’s US user base. while concentrating on maintaining the liquidity and revenue provided by US users.
Furthermore, he accused Samuel Lim, who served as Binance’s chief compliance officer from 2018 to 2022, of encouraging these irregularities.