Former SEC Official Says Binance Anticipating Criminal Prosecution After Hiring ‘All-Star’ Lawyer

A former high-ranking official of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) thinks top global crypto exchange Binance is “clearly preparing” for criminal prosecution in the United States.

John Reed Stark, who founded the SEC’s Office of Internet Enforcement and spent 11 years as its chief, points to the fact that Binance added George Canellos, a former government prosecutor, to their legal defense team as evidence the exchange expects prosecution.

Explains Stark,

“Canellos possesses a rare and remarkably special combination of skill sets — having served as both an SEC prosecutor and a Department of Justice (DOJ) prosecutor. Think Liam Neeson meets Perry Mason.

Binance is clearly preparing for a criminal prosecution and continuing to hire the best defense attorneys in the world. But I doubt even Ironman, Captain America and the Hulk could get Binance out from their current perilous legal quagmire.”

Canellos is a partner and the global head of litigation and arbitration at the New York City-based law firm Milbank LLP. He bills himself as having “more than two decades of experience prosecuting and defending white collar criminal cases and civil actions arising under the securities laws.”

Canellos previously spent 4.5 years working for the SEC, including a stint as the co-director of its enforcement division. He also previously worked as an assistant US attorney at the Southern District of New York US Attorney’s Office.

Citing the level of fraud alleged by the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Stark predicts that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) will “seek prison time” for anyone convicted of crimes related to Binance.

Last week, the SEC sued Binance and its CEO Changpeng Zhao over what Chair Gary Gensler called “an extensive web of deception, conflicts of interest, lack of disclosure, and calculated evasion of the law.”

Additionally, the regulator accuses the company of selling unregistered securities, including Binance’s native token, BNB.

Other prominent digital assets deemed by the SEC as securities include Cardano (ADA), Polygon (MATIC), and Solana (SOL).

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