DOJ appeals Voyager execs protection in Binance.US deal

U.S. officials want to revise court protection of people involved in the Binance.US Voyager deal. The DOJ believes it’s inappropriate to pardon executives and is asking the court to delay the sale for two weeks so they can file an appeal.

DOJ officials filed a motion on March 14 with the bankruptcy judge reviewing the Voyager case. The motion stress the government is unable to swiftly complete investigations into crypto industry players because the industry is “rife with regulatory concerns,” referring to the collapse of FTX.

Because the concerns about Voyager haven’t yet been resolved, DOJ considers the bankruptcy judge’s preliminary approval of a pardon for all individuals involved in the sale of Voyager an overstepping of the court’s statutory authority:

This appeal concerns the fundamental ability of the Government to enforce the law not just for past actions, but for actions in any number of transactions that have not yet occurred and will take place only after the Plan’s effective date. One can imagine any number of illegal acts that could take place in the course of these transactions, from using stolen funds to carry them out to negligently failing to report associated taxes.

According to a filing made on February 28, a provision was put in place to protect individuals involved in conducting the sale from being held personally liable for its implementation. The court approved the provision on March 7 after finding that 97% of Voyager customers were in favor of the plan.

Related: Binance.US-Voyager deal cleared

Ethos founder Shingo Lavine points out that the DOJ’s only claim is that “the court improperly exceeded its statutory authority,” and it appears that is the only reason the deal couldn’t be completed:

SEC also objected to the deal on March 6, arguing that the proposed repayment token would be considered an unregistered securities offering and that Binance.US currently operates as an unregulated securities exchange.

Related: SEC objection of Binance-Voyager deal questioned by judge

A hearing on the matter has been scheduled for March 15 at 2:00 p.m. local time.