Bankman-Fried Still Facing Charges For Illegal Campaign Finance

Key Points:

• The DOJ merges a campaign finance claim into a wire fraud charge for the October trial against Bankman-Fried.
• Bankman-Fried’s actions were previously probed by the DOJ, which cited VPN use and communication as misconduct in the diary-sharing case.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is proceeding with plans to argue that Sam Bankman-Fried engaged in an illegal campaign finance scheme despite initially dropping the campaign finance charge due to treaty obligations.

A recent letter from prosecutors confirmed that a superseding indictment would be filed next week, outlining seven charges for Bankman-Fried’s upcoming trial.

The only omission from the original charges is the campaign finance allegation, which will now be integrated into a wire fraud charge, as stated in the letter addressed to Judge Lewis Kaplan.

The DOJ’s continued pursuit of Bankman-Fried stems from his alleged sharing of former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison’s diary with the New York Times.

The department asserts that his actions exceeded the bounds of “fair comment,” citing his use of a VPN to watch the Super Bowl and communication with FTX.US General Counsel Ryne Miller as further evidence of misconduct.

Scheduled to commence on October 2, the criminal trial against Bankman-Fried carries potential life sentence implications.

The former FTX chief’s prominence rose after the crypto exchange’s dramatic crash in late 2022. While he is currently under house arrest, he could face jail time for violating bail conditions.

In parallel legal developments, Sino Global, led by Matthew Graham, has lodged a substantial claim of $67.3 million against FTX Trading on behalf of the company’s crypto investment fund.

This fund, initiated in 2021 with FTX as a “co-GP and anchor LP,” aimed to raise $200 million. Although $90 million had been raised by January 2022, Bankman-Fried’s association as an indirect investor, along with Alameda Research and its subsidiary Alameda Ventures, has led to heightened scrutiny.

Coincu will continue to update the situation related to Sam Bankman-fired, you can find out more information through this article.

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