Sam Bankman-Fried allegedly concealed tens of millions of dollars in political donations through two FTX executives, an indictment unsealed Thursday revealed, according to reports.
The CEO of the collapsed cryptocurrency firm used one executive to funnel donations to centrer-left candidates and causes, while another donated to Republican candidates and causes, the indictment said.
That added up to more than 300 donations worth tens of millions of dollars, illegal because they were made “in the name of a straw donor or paid for with corporate funds.”
The reason for using straw donors is to bypass individual campaign contribution limits.
Specifically, the money came from bank accounts for Alameda Research, Bankman-Fried's holding company that allegedly poached funds from FTX customers’ accounts. The indictment did not identify the straw donors by name.
Bankman-Fried did try to play both sides of the aisle, though.
For example, the Democrat-focused straw donor donated at least $1mln to a political action committee focused on LGBTQ issues in 2022, according to the indictment.
“In general, you being the center-left face of our spending will mean you giving a lot of woke s--- for transactional purposes,” the consultant said, per the indictment.
Meanwhile, the second straw donor made donations to Republicans, which Bankman-Fried kept “dark,” according to the indictment.
This indictment represents just the latest charges faced by Bankman-Fried, which also include multiple counts of fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud related to FTX customers.
Contact Andrew Kessel at andrew.kessel@proactiveinvestors.com
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