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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.
Former FTX Chief Executive Sam Bankman-Fried, who faces fraud charges over the collapse of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange, exits the Manhattan federal court in New York City, February 16, 2023.
Eduardo Munoz | Reuters
The document refers to one such example, in 2022, when Bankman-Fried and “others agreed that he and his co-conspirators should contribute at least a million dollars to a super PAC that was supporting a candidate running for a United States Congressional seat and appeared to be affiliated with pro-LGBTQ issues.”
The group of conspirators, according to the document, selected an individual only identified in the document as “CC-1” or co-conspirator 1 to be the donor.
However, in 2022, then-FTX director of engineering Nishad Singh contributed $1.1 million to the LGBTQ Victory Fund Federal PAC, according to Federal Election Commission filings.
Singh, who did not immediately respond to a request for comment, has not been charged with any wrongdoing.
SBF’s alleged campaign finance scheme included efforts by him to keep his contributions to Republican “dark,” according to the new indictment.
The document says another unnamed co-conspirator “who publicly aligned himself with conservatives, made contributions to Republican candidates that were directed by Bankman-Fried and funded by Alameda” the crypto tycoon’s hedge fund.
Again, the document does do not name the alleged second FTX co-conspirator who contributed toward Republican candidates.
Ryan Salame, the co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets, a subsidiary of FTX, donated over $20 million toward Republicans during the 2022 election cycle, according to campaign finance watchdog OpenSecrets.
Salame could not be reached for comment.
An ethics watchdog group has asked the Federal Election Commission to investigate Bankman-Fried for alleged “serious violations” of election law, citing his admitted contributions of “dark” money to Republican-aligned groups during the 2022 primary season
– Additional reporting by CNBC’s Jim Forkin
This is breaking news. Please check back for updates.
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