FT investigation raises fresh questions over Binance compliance after $1.7 billion flows through terror-linked accounts

Newly leaked internal data is intensifying scrutiny of Binance compliance, as investigators trace billions in suspicious crypto flows across multiple years and jurisdictions.

Leaked files expose red flags after $4.3 billion settlement

An exclusive Financial Times investigation found that Binance allowed hundreds of millions of dollars to move through flagged accounts even after a $4.3 billion US criminal settlement in 2023. The plea agreement required the exchange to strengthen its compliance and surveillance controls.

Internal Binance files reviewed by the FT show that accounts carrying clear red flags continued trading well beyond the November 2023 plea. Moreover, the leaked data spans transactions from 2021 through this year, underscoring how long suspicious flows persisted on the platform.

The documents highlight indicators such as alleged links to terror financing networks, so-called impossible login patterns, and failed identity checks. However, these warning signs apparently did not trigger effective intervention, allowing significant activity to continue.

Suspicious Venezuelan accounts and impossible logins

One particularly striking account belonged to a resident of a Venezuelan slum who moved $93 million through Binance between 2021 and 2025. Part of those funds allegedly came from a network later accused by US authorities of secretly moving money for Iran and Lebanon’s Hizbollah.

The FT obtained data for 13 suspicious accounts that handled a total of $1.7 billion in transactions. That said, around $144 million of that volume occurred after the 2023 criminal settlement, when compliance obligations were already heightened.

Another account, registered to a 25-year-old Venezuelan woman, received more than $177 million in crypto over two years. It changed payment bank details 647 times in 14 months, cycling through 496 unique accounts across the Americas, a pattern experts say is highly irregular.

Login records also showed physically impossible behavior. The account tied to a Venezuelan bank employee was accessed from Caracas at 3:56 p.m. on February 24, 2025, then from Osaka, Japan, at 1:30 a.m. the next day. Such rapid movement between locations is impossible, yet the activity apparently went undetected.

Terror-financing links and frozen wallets

All 13 accounts received funds totaling $29 million in Tether stablecoin from accounts later frozen by Israel under anti-terrorism law. Nearly all of these transfers came from four crypto wallets linked to Tawfiq Al-Law, a Syrian accused of moving money for Hizbollah and Iran-backed Houthis.

Israel seized the related accounts in May 2023, and the US Treasury sanctioned Al-Law in March 2024. Moreover, the FT’s reporting suggests that these risk indicators did not fully halt flows through the exchange’s infrastructure, raising concerns about broader crypto compliance failures across the sector.

Former federal prosecutor Stefan Cassella told the FT that such behavior is classic for an unregistered money-transmitting business. “That qualifies as suspicious,” he said. “It looks like someone is acting as a money-transmitting business.” His comments underscore how patterns visible in the data aligned with established red flags.

Regulatory backdrop and US, French scrutiny

The FT published its investigation months after the SEC dropped its lawsuit against Binance, which had alleged artificially inflated trading volumes and diversion of customer funds. The US regulator had also accused the exchange of misleading investors about its surveillance and control systems.

In parallel, concerns over Binance’s operations have spread across Europe. France launched a criminal investigation in early 2025, adding to a series of global probes focused on money flows, customer protection and the robustness of internal controls.

Against this backdrop, the phrase binance compliance has become a flashpoint for regulators, market participants and risk professionals evaluating whether the platform is meeting its settlement obligations and broader legal duties.

Trump pardon, monitors and business expansion

In a politically charged twist, President Donald Trump pardoned Binance founder Changpeng Zhao in October for violating US anti-money laundering laws. Subsequently, the Trump family expanded business ties with the exchange this month through World Liberty Financial, announcing a “massive expansion” of its USD1 stablecoin on Binance.

The US Justice Department and Treasury had appointed two independent monitors in May 2024 to oversee Binance’s compliance program. However, many of the transactions reviewed by the FT reportedly occurred after these monitors began their work, raising questions about the scope and effectiveness of the oversight.

Jessica Davis, a former Canadian intelligence official, argued that Trump’s pardon altered incentives at the exchange. “Previously, the incentive was: keep your CEO out of jail,” she said. Moreover, Davis suggested that “even a billion-dollar fine becomes fairly meaningless” when the platforms generate so much revenue.

Binance’s response and ongoing compliance debate

In comments to the FT, Binance said it “maintains strict compliance controls and a zero-tolerance approach to illicit activity” and uses “robust systems in place to flag and investigate suspicious transactions.” The company did not address specific accounts cited in the leaked data.

Nevertheless, the FT’s findings, combined with earlier enforcement actions and pardons, are likely to keep pressure on global authorities assessing exchange settlement terms and monitoring risk. For now, the scale of suspicious transfers and alleged terror-financing links ensures that compliance at major crypto platforms will remain under intense international scrutiny.