Defendant References Crypto Cases for Bond Plea – BlockTribune
On Wednesday, March 26, 2025, Mohammad Jawaid Aziz filed a response in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington opposing the government’s motion to detain him pretrial. Aziz, a 67-year-old Canadian citizen charged with conspiring to export goods to Pakistan illegally, argued for release on an appearance bond, drawing parallels to recent cryptocurrency fraud cases where defendants were released despite significant flight risks.
Aziz’s legal team highlighted two specific cases from the Western District of Washington to support their argument. In United States v. Sergei Potapenko and Ivan Turogin, two Estonian nationals faced charges related to a $575 million cryptocurrency fraud involving their mining service, HashFlare. The government alleged the pair induced victims to buy mining contracts, then laundered proceeds through shell companies, purchasing real estate and luxury cars. Despite having no ties to the US or the Seattle area and actively resisting extradition from Estonia since their 2022 arrest, the court released them on appearance bonds. Each defendant secured a $5 million personal surety bond with Estonian real estate and posted a $750,000 cash bond. They were placed on home detention in Seattle and required to sign global extradition waivers. The filing noted that both remained on release without issues, later pleading guilty, with sentencing scheduled for August 2025.
Aziz’s attorneys argued that Potapenko and Turogin presented a far greater flight risk than Aziz. The government had pointed to the defendants’ vast financial resources, including $160 million in unseized cryptocurrency held in cold storage wallets, and their potential life sentences as incentives to flee. Yet, Judge Robert Lasnik overturned the magistrate’s detention order, finding the bond conditions sufficient to ensure their appearance. Aziz’s team emphasized that, unlike these defendants, Aziz has deep familial ties to Seattle, including siblings and a son born in the US, and significantly less wealth, making him a lower risk.
The second case cited was United States v. Changpeng Zhao, where the former Binance CEO, a citizen of the United Arab Emirates and Canada, was released after pleading guilty to failing to maintain an anti-money laundering program. Zhao faced allegations tied to his cryptocurrency exchange, agreeing to a $50 million fine. The government described him as a multi-billionaire with hundreds of millions in accessible cryptocurrency, minimal US ties, and a residence in a country without an extradition treaty. His initial $175 million personal recognizance bond, backed by $15 million in a trust account and $350,000 from guarantors, allowed him to leave the US, provided he returned two weeks before sentencing. Later, Judge Richard Jones modified the conditions, requiring Zhao to stay in the US until his April 2024 sentencing, where he received a four-month term. Zhao complied with all conditions and appeared as ordered.
Aziz’s filing underscored that Zhao’s wealth and foreign ties dwarfed Aziz’s circumstances. While Zhao had the means to flee with substantial overseas assets, Aziz proposed stricter conditions—home detention, passport surrender, and a $250,000 cash bail plus a $950,000 surety bond secured by his Surrey, British Columbia home’s equity. His attorneys argued that if the court trusted Zhao with less restrictive terms, Aziz’s proposed conditions should suffice, given his limited resources and strong US connections.
In both cases, Aziz’s team asserted that the court found conditions to mitigate flight risks despite the defendants’ foreign citizenship and significant financial means. They noted that Aziz’s charges, tied to export violations ending in 2019, were less severe than the massive fraud allegations in the crypto cases. His lack of criminal history, health issues, and family support—including a son willing to act as a custodian—further aligned his situation with these precedents. The filing concluded that the government failed to overcome the statutory presumption of release under 18 U.S.C. § 3142, urging the court to follow its recent practice of releasing foreign nationals in cryptocurrency cases under tailored bond conditions.
Please contact BlockTribune for access to a copy of this filing.
