SBF indicted for bribing China officials to unfreeze Alameda funds
A new superseding indictment has been filed against Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the former FTX and Alameda Research chief. The indictment adds a new conspiracy charge related to a bribery scheme that allegedly saw SBF direct more than $40 million in cryptocurrency to Chinese officials.
This new indictment is in addition to the existing charges:
- Conspiracy to commit wire fraud
- Wire fraud
- Conspiracy to commit derivatives fraud
- Derivatives fraud
- Conspiracy to commit securities fraud
- Securities fraud
- Conspiracy to commit bank fraud
- Conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business
- Conspiracy to commit money laundering
- Conspiracy to make unlawful political contributions
Read more: Opinion: It’s a blessing that SBF has taken a break from Twitter
The indictment alleges that in 2021, SBF handed over at least $40 million to Chinese officials in return for their help in unfreezing Alameda Research trading accounts. These accounts on two Chinese exchanges contained approximately $1 billion in cryptocurrency.
Before deciding to make this bribe, SBF allegedly attempted to unfreeze the accounts by communicating with the exchanges, retaining lawyers in China, and opening accounts on the exchange using identifying information unaffiliated with FTX or Alameda.
SBF has pleaded not guilty to the previously revealed charges. Several co-conspirators including Caroline Ellison, Nishad Singh, and Gary Wang have pleaded guilty to charges related to the FTX and Alameda Research scheme and are cooperating. SBF also has cases from both the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) against him.
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