October 7 Victims Sue Crypto Billionaire Changpeng Zhao for Aiding Hamas

The law firm of Dr. Gideon Fisher & Co., with assistance from US law firms on Tuesday filed an innovative and groundbreaking lawsuit with the Supreme Court of California against billionaire Changpeng Zhao––founder and owner of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange––for providing crypto funds to Hamas in violation of US laws and international sanctions against supporting terrorist groups.

The lawsuit was filed on behalf of hundreds of plaintiffs, including a large group of American and Israeli citizens who were victims of the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7, 2023, including survivors, those who were murdered, their relatives, and heirs.

Changpeng Zhao, widely known as CZ, is a Chinese-born Canadian entrepreneur and the co-founder of Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume as of July 2024. As of July 2024, Forbes ranked Zhao as the 26th-richest person globally and the wealthiest Canadian, with an estimated net worth of $57.3 billion.

Zhao served as Binance’s CEO until November 2023, when he resigned following a guilty plea to a money laundering charge in the United States. He was sentenced to four months in prison in April 2024 and was released in September.

The lawsuit is based on several key grounds, including negligent conduct that led to support for terrorism, violation of laws prohibiting financial support for terrorism, and active assistance to Hamas activities.

The lawsuit details a demand for monetary compensation for bodily harm, death, emotional harm, loss of future income, and funding for medical treatments according to the court’s decision. Punitive damages are also sought, intended to deter and prevent similar behavior in the future. Due to the scope of the lawsuit and the many plaintiffs, the lawyers expect the jury to convict the billionaire and award high amounts of compensation on a scale common in US rulings.

Walla pointed out that in recent months, the office of Dr. Gideon Fisher had filed lawsuits against Iran and Syria on behalf of American plaintiffs, and this is the first time the firm’s lawsuit includes plaintiffs who hold Israeli citizenship.

Attorney Fisher explains: “Unlike the two previous lawsuits we filed in the US regarding October 7, which totaled a billion dollars, the current lawsuit is against an international business entity whose fortune is estimated at tens of billions of dollars, and the lawsuit is not only on behalf of American victims but also on behalf of Israelis with no American ties. The new lawsuit is estimated to be in the billions of dollars.”

He added, “Our office is preparing, in cooperation with experts, to file additional lawsuits, with new plaintiffs joining every day, strengthening our power against terrorist elements, both abroad and in Israel.”

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