EXTRA: Binance Seeks to Dismiss October 7 Victims Lawsuit in SDNY Quoting CZ Guilty Plea

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by Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book Substack

SDNY COURTHOUSE, Jan 30 – After the October 7, 2023 attacks by Hamas from Gaza, and CZ's and Binance's guilty pleas, the latter two along with Iran and Syria were sued. Argument on Binance's motion to dismiss was heard on January 30 by U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge John G. Koeltl. Inner City Press was there, thread:

OK- now at case against crypto firm Binance, CZ, Syria and Iran by victims of Oct 7 attack.

Binance lawyer [from Cahill Gordon] We are accused of non-feasance, failures to prevent money laundering and to file SARS. Such cases are routinely dismissed-

Judge: Not recently. Judge: Secondary liability for aiding and abetting is hard to dismiss.

Binance lawyer: Crypto is used by 100 million people. It is not inherently dangerous. Binance lawyer: There was no special relationship between Hamas and Binance.

Binance lawyer: They claim that Zhao [CZ] admitted to assisting terrorism - but that's only in the plea agreement. Helping users conceal their location was only to try to keep US users on the platform

Judge: It is breathtaking to take the position, We accept terrorist accounts, we treat terrorists like anyone else.

Binance lawyer: We don't advertise that. It was just gallows humor. The company paid $4 billion for it, and Mr. Zhou [CZ] went to jail for it

Binance lawyer: OK, we allowed a Hamas VIP to be quietly off-boarded. But that was in July 2020, long before the attacks.

Judge: Binance argues that 18 of the 40 plaintiffs have no standing.

Binance lawyer: There are Article III requirements. We are trying to transfer a case here from Alabama. Plaintiffs' lawyer: They are minimizing their misconduct. Zhou went to prison.

Plaintiffs' lawyer: Binance was told, Hamas is on your platform. They didn't seize thr funds, they helped them leave and told them they were flagged, facilitating.

Judge Koeltl: I will rule at a later date

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