FTX’s Bankman-Fried charged with bribery conspiracy in new indictment

NEW YORK, March 28 (Reuters) – U.S. prosecutors on Tuesday unveiled a brand new indictment in opposition to Sam Bankman-Fried, charging the founding father of now-bankrupt FTX cryptocurrency change with conspiring to violate anti-bribery provisions of the International Corrupt Practices Act.

Federal prosecutors in Manhattan accused Bankman-Fried of directing the switch of no less than $40 million of cryptocurrency to profit Chinese language authorities officers.

They mentioned Bankman-Fried directed the bribe with the intention to unfreeze accounts belonging to his hedge fund, Alameda Analysis, that Chinese language authorities had frozen. The accounts held greater than $1 billion of cryptocurrency, U.S. prosecutors mentioned.

The accounts had been unfrozen after the bribe cost was transferred round November 2021 from Alameda’s predominant buying and selling account to a non-public cryptocurrency pockets, in response to the brand new indictment.

After the accounts had been unfrozen, Bankman-Fried approved a switch of tens of thousands and thousands of {dollars} of further cryptocurrency to finish the bribe, prosecutors mentioned.

A spokesman for Bankman-Fried didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.

U.S. District Choose Lewis Kaplan scheduled a court docket listening to for Thursday after prosecutors requested for Bankman-Fried to be arraigned on the brand new, 13-count indictment.

The brand new cost will increase the stress on the 31-year-old former billionaire, who had beforehand pleaded not responsible to eight counts over the collapse of FTX. Prosecutors say Bankman-Fried stole billions of {dollars} in buyer funds to plug losses Alameda.

Prosecutors final month unveiled 4 new counts in opposition to Bankman-Fried, accusing him of orchestrating an unlawful marketing campaign donation scheme to purchase affect in Washington, D.C. He has not but been arraigned on the brand new fees.

Reporting by Luc Cohen and Jonathan Stempel in New York; enhancing by Jonathan Oatis and Nick Zieminski

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