The US Attorney’s Office accused the former head of the FTX crypto exchange Sam-Bankman Freed (SBF) of using $ 100 million in client funds to finance political parties.
According to court documents, the SBF deliberately concealed the source of the funds and sent them through sham accounts.
According to investigators, most of the donations went through Alameda Research, which kept the assets of exchange users. The money was sent to the personal accounts of party leaders, who subsequently transferred funding to funds on their behalf.
In doing so, Bankman-Fried was able to circumvent the restrictions and “maximize FTX’s political influence,” prosecutors said.
“[SBF] used his position to lobby Congress and regulators for legislation that he believed would make it easier for FTX to continue accepting client deposits and grow. This, in turn, would allow him to continue the scheme of misappropriation of funds, ”said the prosecution.
In 2020, the former head of FTX allocated $5.22 million to Joe Biden’s campaign fund, becoming one of his biggest funders. In May 2022, Sam Bankman-Fried pledged to spend “more than $100 million” on the US presidential election.
Recall that SBF was charged with 13 criminal offenses. Later, the prosecutor’s office dropped the charge of financing some politicians as part of a deal with the defense.
The FTX founder pleaded not guilty to any of the counts, including bribing a Chinese official.
Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas and extradited to the States, where he was released on $250 million bail.
In August 2023, the court canceled the release on bail and placed the former head of the exchange in custody until the next hearing.
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