dishonorable ftx Founder Sam Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to five additional charges brought against him in federal court in the US.
The new charges against Bankman-Fried focus on alleged bribery of foreign officials from China. According to the allegations, Bankman-Fried paid $40 million in crypto to one or more Chinese government officials in an effort to gain access to trading accounts frozen by the Chinese.
Prosecutors alleged that Bankman-Fried and others working for him attempted to unfreeze the accounts—which contained around $1 billion in crypto—using “multiple methods.” However, after other methods failed, Bankman-Fried eventually decided to settle the case with a multimillion-dollar bribe, according to the allegations.
The new charges were read during a hearing in New York on Thursday with Bankman-Fried in attendance.
Bankman-Fried’s attorney, Mark Cohen, has said he plans to file a motion for his client not to be charged in all counts.
According to cnbcThe defense plans to argue that someone who has been extradited to the US under a special US-Bahamas treaty – as Bankman-Fried was – can only be prosecuted on the charges for which he was extradited. I went.
The indictment of the former FTX CEO now includes 13 counts, and includes details about political donations that prosecutors argue were made in violation of campaign finance rules.
Bankman-Fried made substantial donations to politicians and political candidates, primarily from the Democratic Party in the US.
He indicated that Dan was a attempt to buy goodwill from the media and the public, saying that reporters in the media “are all super liberal” and that “they give a shit if you donate to Republicans.”
So far, Democrats have given back less than 3% A total of $45.2 million was received, despite a request by FTX’s new CEO John Ray III that the money be returned to the bankrupt asset.
Sam Bankman was fried arrested in the bahamas In December last year, and a few days later extradited to the United States. His trial is scheduled to begin in October.