by Shawn Fleetwood
Following a month-long trial, former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was convicted in federal court on Thursday on seven counts related to defrauding investors of billions of dollars.
Thursday’s conviction came after it was discovered last November that FTX and Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency trading firm Alameda Research had notable overlaps on their balance sheets. This called into question FTX’s liquidity, prompting users to withdraw $6 billion from the company and leading to its bankruptcy. Bankman-Fried, or SBF, ultimately admitted to “funneling billions of dollars in customer funds to his own hedge fund,” which “upend[ed] the entire cryptocurrency sector.”
Federal prosecutors went on to file charges the following month.
According to CNBC, the 31-year-old was convicted on Thursday of “wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud against FTX customers and against Alameda Research lenders, conspiracy to commit securities fraud and conspiracy to commit commodities fraud against FTX investors, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.” SBF — who pled not guilty to the charges — now faces up to more than 100 years in prison.
The former CEO’s time in federal court may not be finished, however. According to The New York Times, SBF is facing a potential second trial regarding a separate batch of charges that include “campaign finance violations.” A campaign finance charge against the crypto guru was originally included in federal prosecutors’ first batch of indictments but was withdrawn following a dispute over extradition rules with the Bahamas, where FTX was headquartered.
If approved, the second trial would take place sometime “early next year,” according to the Times.
Election Interference at its Worst
It didn’t take long after FTX’s implosion for reporters to discover that SBF was the second-largest individual donor to Democrats during the 2022 midterms, with the former CEO having dumped nearly $40 million into entities affiliated with Democrats throughout the cycle. But what has since come to light in the months that followed is how SBF was just one facet of an orchestrated effort among FTX executives to interfere in U.S. elections.
Throughout their investigation, federal prosecutors discovered that SBF unlawfully stole and used FTX customer funds to “make more than $100 million in political campaign contributions before the 2022 U.S. midterm elections.” Central to this scheme were two members of FTX’s “inner circle“: Nishad Singh and Ryan Salame, both of whom acted as “straw donors” to donate money on SBF’s behalf. The ultimate goal, according to a communique authored by Salame, was to “‘weed-out’ anti-crypto Democratic and Republican lawmakers.”
Singh and Salame’s FEC records show that both executives made dozens of big-dollar donations to various political campaigns and PACs ahead of the 2022 elections. While Singh’s donations were directed towards Democrat entities, Salame’s were poured into Republican ones. Documents released by prosecutors last month reportedly show that SBF and the two aforementioned executives gave $50 million of the stolen FTX funds to “dark money” groups “that do not publicly disclose the names of donors” in the lead-up to the 2022 election.
Even more damning about FTX’s electioneering operation is that it appears to be a family affair. During his testimony in last month’s trial, Singh — who “pleaded guilty to fraud and campaign finance violations” earlier this year — detailed how members of SBF’s family were instrumental in steering the flow of political donations.
In his role as a “straw man,” Singh permitted Guarding Against Pandemics, a left-wing lobbying group run by SBF’s brother Gabriel, to make political donations using funds “originating from Alameda” under his name. Singh furthermore admitted to being a member of a Signal group chat that included SBF, Gabriel, and their “political advisors,” who would “frequently direct that a donation be made in Singh’s name.”
Raise your hands if you recall, when Bankman-Fried was first arrested and taken into custody, how he vowed he was NOT SUICIDAL.
I recall it but try to find it online.
It’s been “memory holed.”
Still what are the odds that, faced with decades behind bars, Sam dies before he can expose the real brains behind his actions?
His own parents rank high on my list.
And, of course, there’s Hillary.