Details of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) lawsuit against the Binance exchange have been revealed. According to the regulator, Binance and Binance.US transferred more than $12 billion to Changpeng Zhao’s accounts.

The SEC statement to Binance and Changpeng Zhao emphasizes that the largest cryptocurrency exchange is facilitating the circumvention of US sanctions. In addition, according to the regulator, a significant part of client assets was transferred to the accounts of Zhao and organizations affiliated with him.

The American regulator builds its accusations on the basis of data provided by the collapsed banks Silvergate and Signature. Judging by these transactions, the Binance exchange sent funds to Merit Peak. The regulator claims that this company is “Changpeng Zhao’s own firm.”

“$12 billion of Merit Peak’s $22 billion of equity came from Binance and Binance.US between 2019 and 2021,” the SEC lawsuit says.

As a reminder, the SEC accused Binance and its founder of creating a “net of deception”, inflating trading volume, diverting client assets, and trading unregistered securities.