Sam Bankman-Fried, Founder of bankrupt crypto exchange FTX and Former Executive of Alameda Research, is facing new criminal charges. The court charges SBF with conspiracy to commit bank fraud and conspiracy to “evade contribution limits on individual donations.”
The federal judge presiding over the criminal case against Sam Bankman-Fried unsealed a superseding indictment filed by U.S. Attorney Damian Williams in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. According to the document, SBF is facing new charges of conspiracy to defraud. It was reported by The Block.
Previously, Bankman-Fried was charged with eight counts of felonies, now Williams upped that number to 12. The indictment charged SBF with eight fraud-related conspiracy charges, as well as four counts of wire fraud and securities fraud.
The indictment alleges that Bankman-Fried committed fraud in opening a bank account to obtain user deposits. Prosecutors also charged SBF with conspiring to make more than 300 illegal political donations. Reuters reports this.
For example, the new indictment says that Bankman-Fried “evaded contribution limits on individual donations.” Prosecutors say SBF colluded with two former FTX executives, who incidentally actively cooperated with the investigation, and donated “tens of millions of dollars” as “political contributions.” Thus, according to the prosecutor, SBF tried to lobby for legislation favorable to him and his company.
Recall that Sam Bankman-Fried was extradited to the U.S. and released from custody on $250 million bail. SBF is currently under house arrest. He has pleaded not guilty to criminal charges and is scheduled for trial in October. SBF is also banned from contacting employees of FTX and Alameda until March 3.
Charges against SBF were brought by the federal prosecutor’s office and the U.S. financial regulators — the SEC and the CFTC. However, the court suspended the regulators’ claims until the end of the criminal proceedings.
