Bankman-Fried’s charges were expanded in the latest indictment submitted by federal prosecutors.
Federal prosecutors have announced a new indictment against Sam Bankman-Fried with four additional counts.
THE document alleging these new charges begin with the assertion that “from at least 2019 on or about, up to and including on or about November 2022, Samuel Bankman-Fried, aka ‘SBF’, the defendant, corrupted the operations of the cryptocurrency companies he founded and controlled.
In addition to the original charges SBF faces, prosecutors allege he is also guilty of conspiracy to commit bank fraud and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitter. Previously, SBF had been charged with all of the following counts by the United States Southern District Court in New York, including:
- Conspiracy to commit wire fraud on customers
- Wire Fraud on Customers
- Conspiracy to commit wire fraud on lenders
- Electronic fraud on lenders
- Conspiracy to Commit Commodity Fraud
- Conspiracy to Commit Securities Fraud
- Conspiracy to commit money laundering
- And conspiracy to defraud the United States and violate campaign finance laws.
These charges followed his arrest in December in the Bahamas, after the incredibly large failure of the FTX exchange empire. The industry is still reeling from both the trade impact and the regulatory scrutiny that has since followed.
“Contrary to Bankman-Fried’s promises to FTX clients that the exchange would protect their interests and segregate their assets, Bankman-Fried has routinely leveraged FTX clients’ assets to provide interest-free capital for his private expenses and those of ‘Alameda, and in the process exposed FTX’s clients to massive and undisclosed risk,” the document alleges with the new charges.” Alameda’s currency and investments in other companies, by design, the reality was otherwise.”
In addition to functional issues with FTX, alleged illegal donations are now detailed, with the indictment examining how SBF used others to contribute to political movements to which he himself or his entities were not connected. commercial.
“Bankman-Fried ensured that substantial contributions were made in support of candidates from both major political parties and across the political spectrum,” the document alleges. “Bankman-Fried, however, did not want to be known as a leftist, or have his name publicly attached to Republican candidates. In instances where he wanted to obscure his association with certain contributions, Bankman-Fried and others conspired and had those contributions made on behalf of (FTX executives) CC-1 and CC-2.
Under this program, contributions were coordinated to be made on behalf of the two FTX straw donors to candidates they did not necessarily support or were unaware of. Rather, these straw donations were made for the purpose of advancing SBF’s political agenda while providing cover to avoid being associated with certain contributions, and concealing that the source of the contributions was in fact Alameda.
Bankman-Fried’s highly anticipated trial is scheduled for October 2023.