Questions were raised after Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim hosted a disgraced cryptocurrency mogul in his office, almost a year after he was sentenced to prison by a US court for money laundering and other frauds-related charges.
Comments flooded Anwar’s social media accounts after he posted about his meeting with Changpeng Zhao, who stepped down as the CEO of Binance, a company banned from trading in Malaysia.
In April 2024, the Chinese-born Canadian businessman was sentenced to four months in prison by a court in Seattle after pleading guilty to violating US anti-money-laundering laws.
In 2021, the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) announced enforcement action against Binance for illegally operating a cryptocurrency exchange.
SC also added Binance to its investor alert list and issued a public reprimand to Zhao and three other Binance entities in the United Kingdom, Lithuania and Singapore.
The commission had also ordered Binance to disable its website and mobile apps in Malaysia and to immediately cease all marketing activities to Malaysian investors.
US prosecutors had stated that Binance had failed to report more than 100,000 suspicious transactions and that it was a hub for illicit financial transactions that included extremist groups, criminals and people trafficking child sexual abuse materials.
Binance was fined US$4.3 billion, while Zhao himself was fined US$50 million.
Zhao’s imprisonment last year came days after fellow cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison for one of the largest financial frauds in history, with authorities in the US forfeiting US$11 billion in assets.
On Tuesday, Anwar said he had a “productive meeting” with Zhao to discuss Malaysia’s potential as a hub in the blockchain industry.
“I welcome continued discussions with agencies such as the Securities Commission, Bank Negara Malaysia and the Ministry of Digital to explore ways to facilitate and promote responsible innovation,” he said.
“With the right steps, Malaysia can position itself at the forefront of this global digital transformation,” he said.
Public reaction immediately centred on Zhao’s criminal past.
“Isn’t he a scammer?” asked X user Ka Ha.
Many also recalled that Binance is banned from trading in Malaysia.
“You want to work with a criminal who laundered money for terrorists?” asked another user.
“Dude of all people you take CZ? He has criminal history,” came another reply.
MalaysiaNow is trying to get a response from SC.