FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried was hit with four new criminal charges on Thursday in a superseding indictment filed in New York federal court.
A source familar with the new counts said that SBF, as he is popularly known, could face an additional 40 years in prison if convicted in the case.
The new charging document lays out in greater detail Bankman-Fried’s allegedly fradulent conduct related to his cryptocurrency company and an associated hedge fund, Alameda Research.
The 12-count indictment also provides new details of political donations that Bankman-Fried allegedly directed in violation of federal campaign finance laws.
Bankman-Fried is accused of stealing FTX customer deposits and using billions of dollars of those stolen funds to support FTX’s and Alameda’s operations and investments, to fund speculative investments, to make charitable contributions, and to enrich himself, the indicment notes.
He also tried “to purchase influence over cryptocurrency regulaton in Washington, D.C., by steering tens of millions of dollars in illegal campaign contributions to both Democrats and Republicans,” according to the new indictment, which was was unsealed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
Bankman-Fried, who remains free on a $250 million personal recognizance bond, has pleaded not guilty in the case.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams, in a statement on the new indictment said, “We are hard at work and will remain so until justice is done.”
The new document lays out how Bankman-Fried allegedly operated an illegal straw donor scheme as he moved to use customers funds to run a $40 million political influence campaign.
The indictment claims that Bankman-Fried and his co-conspirators “made over 300 political contributions, totaling tens of millions of dollars, that were unlawful because they were made in the name of a straw donor or paid for with corporate funds.
“To avoid certain contributions being publicly reported in his name, Bankman-Fried conspired to and did have certain political contributions made in the names of two other FTX executives,” the new filing claims.
Article source: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/02/23/ftx-founder-sam-bankman-fried-hit-with-new-criminal-charges.html