Sam Bankman-Fried charged with using stolen funds for political donations

Sam Bankman-Fried used stolen customer funds to make more than $100m in campaign contributions ahead of the 2022 US midterm elections, federal prosecutors said on Monday in a new indictment filed against the founder of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange.

The new indictment charges the 31-year-old former billionaire with seven counts of conspiracy and fraud over the collapse of the exchange. He has previously pleaded not guilty.

Bankman-Fried’s personal fortune was once estimated at $26bn and the cryptocurrency mogul was once one of the biggest political donors in Washington.

The indictment alleges that Bankman-Fried concealed the fact that FTX customer deposits were a source of those donations by directing that money from FTX’s sister trading firm, Alameda, be wired to FTX executives’ personal bank accounts. Those executives then make donations in their own names, evading restrictions on certain types of political contributions, and “thereby maximize FTX’s political influence”.

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Article URL : https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/aug/14/sam-bankman-fried-latest-charges-campaign-donation-ftx