The disgraced founder of bankrupt crypto exchange platform FTX is getting hit with a series of new charges related to allegedly making illegal political donations.
New court documents reveal that former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried is now being accused of conspiring to make over 300 illegal campaign donations and is getting slapped with new charges.
Authorities say that Bankman-Fried, who already faces charges for allegedly defrauding customers and mishandling billions of dollars worth of their funds, skirted campaign contribution limits by making “straw donations.”
“In total, between in or about the fall of 2021 and the November 2022 election, Bankman-Fried, the defendant, and the two FTX executives who served as straw donors as part of his scheme, collectively made millions of dollars in contributions, including in ‘hard money’ contributions to federal candidates from both major political parties.”
According to the court filings, the political donations can be traced to Alameda Research, the trading branch of the FTX ecosystem. Bankman-Fried is accused of illegally loaning billions of dollars worth of customer funds to Alameda.
“The money used to make these political donations originated from Alameda bank accounts, and included funds that had been deposited by FTX customers.
Notwithstanding his awareness of the campaign finance laws, in order to conceal the true source of the funds, the defendant agreed with others that funds for contributions would be transferred from Alameda’s bank accounts, which also contained FTX customer funds, to bank accounts in the name of the donors, and then quickly transferred from those individuals’ bank accounts to political campaigns.”
FTX first filed for bankruptcy in November after its native asset collapsed and it was forced to halt customer deposits and withdrawals.
Bankman-Fried is currently out on bail for his initial charges and is awaiting trial. If convicted of his original charges, he could face over 100 years in prison.
The former billionaire also faces civil lawsuits from federal agencies, such as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). However, those cases will be put on hold until Bankman-Fried’s criminal trial finishes.
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