PARIS (Reuters) -French investigators said on Tuesday they had opened a judicial probe into money laundering, tax fraud and other charges at Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.
The economic and financial crime section of the Paris public prosecutor’s office (JUNALCO) said in a statement that the probe includes money laundering in connection with drug trafficking.
Binance did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The investigation is examining the period from 2019 to 2024, involving offences committed in France but also in all European Union countries, JUNALCO said.
It began after complaints from users who alleged they had lost money after investing via the platform, because of information they said had been incorrectly communicated to them, the prosecutor’s office said.
The users also complained that the platform had been trading without obtaining the necessary approvals.
Binance is facing lawsuits and investigations in several countries.
This month, the U.S. Supreme Court allowed a case against Binance and founder Changpeng Zhao to move forward. That lawsuit involved investors who accused Binance of illegally selling unregistered tokens, which lost much of their value.
In December, Australia’s corporate watchdog said it had sued Binance’s local derivatives business, alleging that its retail customers had been denied consumer protections after being misclassified as wholesale clients.
(Reporting by Geert De Clercq and Makini BriceEditing by Ros Russell)
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