Cryptocurrency exchange Binance Holdings Inc. is facing major civil lawsuits from U.S. regulators, and now two U.S. senators are requesting that the Department of Justice conduct a criminal investigation into the company for making false statements to Congress.
Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Chris Van Hollen of Maryland sent a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland on Wednesday requesting a “rapid and thorough investigation” into Binance after the company responded to a bipartisan inquiry by claiming in writing that Binance and the U.S. exchange Binance.US were “separate entities.”
See also: SEC charges Binance and founder CZ with mishandling customer funds, illegally serving U.S. investors
The Securities and Exchange Commission filed suit against Binance Monday, alleging that the company created a U.S. exchange in order to “evade U.S. regulatory oversight” and that it claimed the U.S. entity was separately controlled. The SEC alleges that, in fact, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao was intimately involved in the U.S. operation.
“This is a serious matter,” the senators wrote. “In this case, a bipartisan group of senators was seeking information on the cryptocurrency industry in order to inform an ongoing legislative process … and it appears that Binance and Binance.US undermined this important investigation and the legislative process by providing false and misleading information to Congress.”
Federal law bars an individual or entity from lying to Congress, and the penalty can include a fine and up to five years of imprisonment.
Binance did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
