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| Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried Hit With New Bribery Charges in Cryptocurrency Scandal |
Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has been hit with new bribery charges by US officials. The charges allege that Bankman-Fried used $40 million to influence "one or more Chinese government officials." The charges are part of a revised indictment that now includes 13 counts against Bankman-Fried, who is accused of bribing foreign officials in China with cryptocurrency to unfreeze accounts. The aim of the alleged bribery was to help Bankman-Fried, Alameda, and others obtain and retain business, according to the indictment. Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
This is not the first time that Bankman-Fried's indictment has been revised. In February, his indictment was revised to include bank fraud charges. He also faces charges of defrauding the Federal Election Commission, wire fraud, and securities fraud. Three of his top deputies have pleaded guilty and are cooperating with federal prosecutors.
The latest revision of the indictment alleges that Chinese officials seized two accounts owned by Alameda Research, Bankman-Fried's quantitative trading arm, which were held on "two of China's largest crypto exchanges" in 2021. Bankman-Fried is the only individual named in the indictment, and it does not include any other defendants. The former FTX CEO also faces lawsuits filed by the US Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
