Another executive under Sam Bankman-Fried at FTX has agreed to plead guilty to conspiring to make unlawful contributions and defraud the Federal Election Commission.
Ryan Salame, once the co-CEO of FTX's Bahamian subsidiary, appeared in a Manhattan US District Court before Judge Lewis Kaplan — the same judge overseeing Bankman-Fried’s case which is scheduled to go to trial next month.
Salame said Thursday that he had agreed to forfeit more than $1.5 billion in conjunction with the deal.
Prosecutors said last month that Salame messaged a family member in November 2021 that Bankman-Fried hoped political donations would "weed-out" anti-crypto lawmakers of both parties, noting that Bankman-Fried would likely "route money through me to weed out that [R]epublican side."
Salame ultimately donated more than $24 million to Republican candidates and causes in the 2022 election cycle, according to FEC data.
This stems from the infamous November 2022 collapse of FTX, which followed what prosecutors say involved Bankman-Fried taking billions in FTX customer deposits to cover losses at his hedge fund Alameda Research.
Bankman-Fried, who has pleaded not guilty, also allegedly donated more than $100 million in consumer funds to donate to political campaigns.
Then there are the charges of lying to investors and lenders about the financial condition of FTX and Alameda.
In addition to Salame, three other executives at Bankman-Fried's companies have pleaded guilty.
Bankman-Fried is currently in jail, where he has been since August 11 after Judge Kaplan found he likely tampered with witnesses at least twice.
Contact Andrew Kessel at andrew.kessel@proactiveinvestors.com
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