Sam Bankman-Fried, the individual behind the creation of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, has been accused of utilizing stolen customer funds to accumulate over $100 million in campaign donations leading up to the 2022 US midterm elections.
This revelation surfaced on Monday when a fresh indictment was filed against Bankman-Fried, according to reports from The Guardian. This new legal action unveils a series of grave allegations against the once-prominent 31-year-old billionaire. He now faces seven charges related to conspiracy and fraud in connection to the downfall of the FTX exchange. It’s worth noting that Bankman-Fried had previously entered a plea of not guilty.
Central to this intricate legal saga is the assertion that Bankman-Fried inappropriately diverted customer funds, channeling them towards an extensive $100 million fund designed to exert influence on the 2022 US midterm elections.
The indictment outlines charges asserting that Bankman-Fried concealed the origin of election contributions tied to FTX customer deposits.
According to the allegations, he deliberately obscured the trail of donations by orchestrating transfers from Alameda, an affiliated trading firm of FTX, to personal bank accounts held by FTX executives. These executives then proceeded to make donations using their own names, effectively bypassing regulations governing specific categories of political contributions.
Reportedly, this approach was aimed at augmenting FTX’s impact within the political domain.
The indictment suggests that Bankman-Fried “leveraged this influence, in turn, to lobby Congress and regulatory agencies to support legislation and regulation he believed would make it easier for FTX to continue to accept customer deposits and grow, which would, in turn, allow the misappropriation scheme to continue. Bankman-Fried also used these connections with politicians and government officials to falsely burnish the public image of FTX as a legitimate exchange.”
Initially, the US attorney’s office in Manhattan had charged Bankman-Fried with violating US campaign finance laws. However, this charge was dropped in late July.
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