Cryptocurrency exchange Binance has hired a new global money laundering reporting officer. The individual, Greg Monahan, is a former U.S. Treasury criminal investigator, Binance said in a Tuesday (Aug. 17) blog post.
The announcement comes days after a High Court of London order determined that Binance needed to identify hackers and freeze their accounts after a Binance user said it was the victim of a hack worth $2.6 million, according to PYMNTS. Artificial intelligence company Fetch.ai told PYMNTS that the unidentified hacker had wrongfully traded the funds and the company was working with Binance to identify the hacker and recover the funds. Fetch.ai said the hack occurred on June 6.
Binance has come under scrutiny from regulators as some believe the digital coins could further money laundering schemes, consumer scams or runaway bets. In response to the hack, Binance had alerted Fetch.ai about “unusual activity” on its account, froze a portion of the sum and agreed to comply with the High Court’s ruling, according to a partner at a law firm representing Fetch.ai.
Read more: UK High Court Tells Binance To ID Crypto Hackers
Monahan’s hiring follows recent shakeups in Binance’s leadership, according to PYMNTS. Earlier this month Brian Brooks, the head of U.S. operations for Binance, resigned his position after only three months, citing “differences over strategic direction.”
A week before Brooks’ Aug. 6 resignation, Binance founder Changpeng Zhao had announced that he was bowing out as head of the company.
Also read: Binance’s US CEO Quits Citing ‘Differences Over Strategic Direction’
At the time Brooks and Zhao departed, Binance was facing inquiries from regulators in the U.K., Germany, Japan, and Hong Kong related to purported negligent consumer protection and lacking money laundering protections. In addition, Britain, Italy and Hong Kong have said the company is not permitted to undertake regulated activity in their countries, and Malaysia’s financial regulator rebuked Binance for operating without authorization, according to a Reuters report.
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