- Bankman-Fried entered a not guilty plea to eight counts of fraud and conspiracy
- He paid $40m to members of the Chinese government to unlock Alameda accounts
Former CEO and founder of failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX Sam Bankman-Fried will most likely plead not guilty to the latest criminal charges against him today. They include bribing the Chinese government and conspiring to violate campaign finance laws, Reuters reported.
FTX founder faces decades in prison
31-year-old Bankman-Fried entered a not guilty plea to eight counts of fraud and conspiracy earlier. The charges involve siphoning off billions in FTX customer funds to compensate losses at Alameda Research, his hedge fund. Insiders told Reuters he also planned to enter a not guilty plea to the new 13-count indictment.
If he is convicted, Bankman-Fried faces decades in prison. His trial will begin on October 2. Authorities detained him in December last year, after concerns about mixing funds between Alameda and FTX provoked a flurry of withdrawals from the now-bankrupt exchange. The run resulted in FTX’s collapse.
He won’t admit to stealing funds
After SBF was arrested, he published a blog post, in which he admitted that risk management had not been sufficient at FTX. He denied having stolen any funds, however.
At the end of February, prosecutors presented a new indictment with 12 counts, providing more details about the fraud charges. According to the new accusations, Bankman-Fried used “straw donors” to donate tens of millions to US political campaigns illegally. This was widely seen as a ploy to buy influence in the US government.
He gave the Chinese government a bribe of $40M?
Prosecutors filed another indictment on March 28, according to which Bankman-Fried broke an anti-bribery law that involved a payment of $40 million to members of the Chinese government. The purpose of the bribe was to open frozen Alameda accounts in the country that held $1 billion in cryptocurrency.
SBF is being detained in his parents' home in Palo Alto on a $250 million bond pending trial. A few days ago, a US judge approved changes to his bail terms, which are aimed at stopping him from tampering with witnesses.
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