Bankman-Fried bribed Chinese officials with $40 million in crypto: prosecutors

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Disgraced FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried bribed Chinese officials with at least $40 million in cryptocurrency, federal prosecutors alleged in an indictment Tuesday.

Bankman-Fried directed the transfer “to influence and induce” Chinese officials to unblock his hedge fund accounts which held more than $1 billion in crypto, according to the indictment.

Prosecutors said Chinese authorities froze accounts belonging to Alameda Research, a subsidiary of FTX, in early 2021.

“After months of unsuccessful attempts to unfreeze the accounts, Samuel Bankman-Fried argued with others and eventually accepted and ordered a multi-million dollar bribe to seek to unfreeze the accounts,” the authors wrote. prosecutors in the indictment.

Chinese officials then unblocked the accounts and were rewarded with tens of millions of dollars in crypto, prosecutors said.

This is the latest charge against Bankman-Fried, who faces allegations of fraud, money laundering and campaign finance violations related to the collapse of FTX. The popular trading platform went bankrupt after Alameda Research suffered massive losses on risky bets.

The new 13-count indictment charges Bankman-Fried with violating the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, an anti-bribery law. This comes after three senior FTX officials pleaded guilty to criminal charges.

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Bankman-Fried has a well-documented history of shelling out huge sums to curry favor with key decision makers.

The Justice Department alleged last month that Bankman-Fried made approximately $100 million in political donations to congressional candidates from both parties through fictitious donors to disguise the true source and keep Bankman-Fried’s donations hidden. Fried to Republicans.

Prior to the collapse of FTX, Bankman-Fried was a hugely influential force on Capitol Hill and helped draft the first comprehensive legislation to regulate the crypto industry.

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