SBF Charged With Making Illegal Political Donations

Former FTX founder and fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried is facing an onslaught of new charges, this time for illegally making hundreds of political donations worth tens of millions of dollars.

According to an indictment freshly unsealed on Thursday, the disgraced crypto mogul is now facing 12 new counts related to campaign donation fraud, with federal prosecutors alleging SBF and other FTX executives opened a slew of bank accounts for the purpose of making contributions to political organizations by falsely telling financial institutions the funds would be used for market making and trading.

The accused instead used the bank accounts to make over 300 corporate contributions to political action committees and politicians in the Southern District of New York using the identities of unrelated individuals.

SBF Superseding Indictment unsealed minutes ago. Includes new fraud counts relating to FTX investors/customers. The entire crypto ecosystem is under regulatory and prosecutorial siege — and clearly with good reason. Still just the beginning. Hallelujah.https://t.co/nMVuSlYHlf pic.twitter.com/Hw9nGknM6K

— John Reed Stark (@JohnReedStark) February 23, 2023

“FTX’s former CEO wanted to give at least $1 million to a pro-LGBTQ political action group, but couldn’t find anyone bisexual or gay at the company whom he trusted,” the document said. One unnamed executive, believed to be Nishad Singh, was urged to make the donation, while another right-wing executive, apparently Ryan Salame, did so for Republican causes, Coindesk described.

This section is about SBF using FTX exec Nishad Singh to donate to left-leaning groups. A consultant who worked with SBF told Singh he'd have to donate to a bunch of "woke shit." This $1 million contribution was to the LGBTQ Victory Fund pic.twitter.com/AvH5neVhws

— Chuck Ross (@ChuckRossDC) February 23, 2023

The newest charges are on top of a slew of previous charges SBF faces, including securities fraud, commodities fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, campaign finance law violations, and conspiracy to defraud the US. Thanks to his generosity (sarcasm intended), SBF became the second biggest single contributor during last year’s midterm elections, donating over $39 million to numerous Democratic organizations and causes.

The complete list of politicians whom accepted FTX’s illegal donations can be found here.

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Information for this briefing was found via Twitter and the sources mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to this organization. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.