US accuses FTX founder of bribing Chinese officials

US authorities on Tuesday unveiled new charges against the founder of the ill-fated cryptocurrency platform FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, for allegedly paying multi-million dollar bribes to Chinese officials.

According to the Federal Prosecutor’s Office for the Southern District of New York, Bankman-Fried would have transferred at least US$ 40 million to one or more officials of the Government of China so that, in exchange, they would unlock accounts of his investment fund, Alameda Researchwho had more than $1 billion in cryptocurrency.

The new accusations add to a long list of fraud and money laundering charges against the young businessman, who has pleaded not guilty and is under house arrest at his parents’ house after agreeing to an unprecedented bail of US$250 million. .

Last month, prosecutors had already expanded the original eight charges with four more, including some related to an alleged system of illegal political donations to Democrats and Republicans organized by Bankman-Fried to try to gain influence in Washington.

The judge in charge of the case, Lewis Kaplan, published an order on Tuesday calling a hearing for Thursday, in which all the new charges against the accused will be read.

In the new indictment released today, the Prosecutor’s Office details how in November 2021 the Chinese authorities froze accounts belonging to Alameda Researchthe investment arm of FTX, and ensures that, after testing “numerous methods” to unlock them, Bankman–fried he opted for a bribe.

According to the text, the founder of FTX and others in the company transferred at least $40 million in cryptocurrency to one or more Chinese officials and thus achieved the unlocking of the accounts.

FTX, once one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency platforms, plunged rapidly last November after many users rushed to withdraw their funds amid reports casting doubt on the company’s solvency.

In the aftermath of that collapse, the US authorities charged Bankman-Fried and other officials at FTX and Alameda Research with a gigantic fraud in the management of their business, which had turned the 31-year-old businessman into a billionaire and one of the most influential figures in the world of cryptocurrencies.

Bankman-Fried – often known by his initials SBF – was extradited to New York in December from the Bahamas, the company’s headquarters and where he resided.

For now, the start of the trial against him is scheduled for next October and, if convicted of all the crimes of which he is accused, Bankman-Fried faces a sentence of more than one hundred years in prison.

Source: EFE