Sam Bankman-Fried Charged For Allegedly Bribing Communist Chinese Officials

Sam Bankman-Fried, co-founder of FTX, has been charged with allegedly paying millions of dollars in bribes to a member of the Chinese Communist government. He was charged by the US Justice Department on Tuesday with authorizing and directing a bribe of at least $40 million to unfreeze Alameda trading accounts holding more than $1 billion in cryptocurrency. The charges aim to influence and induce one or more Chinese officials to unfreeze the accounts. Bankman-Fried and others sought to access the assets to fund additional Alameda trading activity, in order to obtain and retain business. The new criminal charge is in addition to the 12 other criminal charges the 31-year-old already faces in the case.

The allegations are related to the December bankruptcy of several companies controlled by Bankman-Fried, who improperly commingled funds with sister trading firm Alameda Research, causing investors to suffer. If convicted on all counts, Bankman-Fried will face over 150 years in prison. Bankman-Fried contributed $39 million mainly to Democratic nominees and political action committees ahead of the 2022 midterm elections, after emerging as the second-largest donor for the Biden campaign in the 2020 cycle. In addition to all of this, Bankman-Fried donated millions to various media outlets through a nonprofit organization called Building a Stronger Future, which he ran with his brother, a former Democratic congressional staffer. The brothers received favorable coverage following the scandal from multiple media outlets.

This report was contributed by Ben Zeisloft.