A group of democrat senators wants the Justice Department to investigate whether crypto exchange Binance is lying to lawmakers about its business practices.
Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren and Chris Van Hollen, representing Maryland, said in a letter to US Attorney General Merrick Garland that the crypto platform may have made false statements, including whether the American subsidiary is actually a separate entity. In a 136-page complaint filed with federal court on Monday, the SEC claimed that Binance.US and Binance are not independent of each other. In a letter to Garland, lawmakers wrote that this was a serious matter.
Binance Didn’t Respond to Requests for Comments
Binance representatives did not respond to requests for comment, while the Ministry of Justice declined to comment.
In March, Elizabeth Warren, Van Hollen, and Roger Marshall, a Republican from Kansas, requested information about the relationship between Binance and Binance.US. The exchange said in response that the two companies are separate entities, making compliance a priority.
“Binance and its affiliate appear to be undermining this important investigation and legislative process by providing false and misleading information to Congress,” the lawmakers wrote in a letter to the attorney general.
In her SEC complaint, she alleged that Changpeng Zhao violated a number of securities rules, mishandled client funds and misled investors. The SEC also noted that the international company and Zhao are closely involved in running the US-based business. In addition, the SEC has requested a temporary restraining order to freeze certain assets.
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