Sam Bankman-Fried Now Accused Of 13 Counts: Reuters

Key Points:

• Sam Bankman-Fried will enter a not-guilty plea to accusations of attempting to circumvent campaign finance regulations.
• He earlier pled not guilty to eight counts of fraud and conspiracy and is scheduled to stand trial in October.
• Bankman-Fried is now charged with 13 counts.

According to Reuters, FTX crypto exchange founder Sam Bankman-Fried is set to enter a not-guilty plea on Thursday to fresh US federal accusations that include conspiring to break campaign finance rules and bribing Chinese officials.

Bankman-Fried had previously pleaded not guilty to eight counts of fraud and conspiracy in connection with allegedly diverting billions of dollars in FTX client money to cover losses at his hedge fund, Alameda Research. The latest allegations pile pressure on Bankman-Fried, who faces decades in jail if convicted in a trial due to begin on October 2.

Bankman-Fried now faces a 13-count indictment after being accused of trying to circumvent campaign finance regulations and bribing Chinese government officials.

In February, authorities charged Bankman-Fried with conspiracy to make illegal political donations, in addition to fraud. Prosecutors issued a fresh 12-count indictment in late February, expanding on the fraud accusations and accusing Bankman-Fried of illegally giving tens of millions of dollars to US political campaigns via straw donors as part of a plot to purchase influence in Washington.

The creator of FTX was arrested in December after the collapse of now-bankrupt FTX due to a surge of client withdrawals caused by worries over the commingling of assets between the exchange and Alameda. He was subsequently suspected of attempting to bribe one or more Chinese government officials with around $40 million in cryptocurrency in order to unlock specific accounts of his trading business Alameda.

As Coincu reported, FTX requested that the court not allow Sam Bankman-Fried to use the company’s $10 million insurance fund to cover his high-priced legal bills. Separately, an official committee of FTX’s unsecured creditors requested that the court refuse SBF’s request to utilize the company’s insurance to pay legal bills.

Check out our other SBF article for Exposes FTX Collapse.

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