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FTX founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was charged with violating a slew of campaign finance laws on Tuesday, marking another major blow for the former crypto leader.
According to the unsealed indictment, the U.S. District Court in Manhattan alleged that in addition to committing securities and wire fraud, Bankman-Fried gave a minimum of $25,000 in campaign finance donations to campaigns and political action committees “in the names of other persons.”
The court also said Bankman-Fried and others conspired to make “corporate
contributions to candidates and committees in the Southern District of New York that were reported in the name of another person.”
The charges against Bankman-Fried in relation to campaign finance laws are notable given his status as one of the most prominent political donors in this campaign cycle.
“All of this dirty money was used in service of Bankman-Fried’s desire to buy bipartisan influence and impact the direction of public policy in Washington,” Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, told reporters at a news conference on Tuesday.
Additionally, a civil complaint filed by the Securities and Exchange Commission accused Bankman-Fried of using his crypto investment firm Alameda “as his personal piggy bank to buy luxury condominiums, support political campaigns, and make private investments, among other uses.”
“This was a massive, massive campaign finance scheme to buy political favors,” said Craig Holman, the government affairs lobbyist for the consumer rights advocacy group Public Citizen. “He’s facing some very serious consequences that could add up to 20 years in prison or more.”
Earlier this month the watchdog organization Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission requesting that it investigate Bankman-Fried for campaign finance violations.
