Sam Bankman-Fried To Face New Charges Over Chinese Bribery

Twitter icon  •  Published 11개월 전  •  Hassan Maishera

Sam Bankman-Fried is facing new charges after US prosecutors accused him of bribing some Chinese officials to help unfreeze his accounts.

TL;DR

  • Sam Bankman-Fried is facing new charges after being accused of bribing Chinese officials to help unfreeze his accounts.

  • SBF was the CEO of the now-bankrupt FTX cryptocurrency exchange and is facing multiple charges of bribery and fraud in the United States.

Sam Bankman-Fried’s Case Gets New Bribery Charges

United States prosecutors launched a new indictment against FTX crypto exchange founder Sam Bankman-Fried a few hours ago. The prosecutors added bribery charges to the existing 12 charges he already faces. 

In a superseding indictment shared Tuesday, the prosecutors accuse SBF of attempting to bribe at least one and possibly more Chinese government officials as he sought to unfreeze certain accounts.

The former FTX boss is already facing charges of fraud, conspiracy and trying to evade United States campaign financing laws. He was arrested last year but has already been released on both. The indictment statement pointed out that;

"In or about November 2021, Samuel Bankman-Fried, a/k/a 'SBF,' the defendant, and others directed and caused the transfer of at least approximately $40 million in cryptocurrency intended for the benefit of one or more Chinese officials in order to influence and induce them to unfreeze the Accounts."

The letter added that;

"The S5 Indictment, which was unsealed this morning, includes the twelve counts contained in the S3 Superseding Indictment, as well an additional count for conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act ('FCPA'), in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371.”

The prosecutors added that SBF has yet to be arranged on five of the 13 charges brought against him. 

After the charges, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan approved changes to SBF’s bail restrictions focused on his use of electronic devices. According to the changes, SBF is no longer allowed to communicate with former FTX or Alameda Research without the presence of counsel. 

He is also not allowed to use any encrypted or ephemeral call or messaging application, including but not limited to 'Signal. SBF has also been restricted to a  new laptop or phone that provides access only to about 40 pre-approved websites that would be helpful in his defense or are for personal use and don’t pose any risk to the community. 

SBF was the CEO of the now-bankrupt FTX cryptocurrency exchanges. The exchange was one of the biggest in the world prior to its collapse in November 2022.

 

Author

Hassan Maishera

Hassan is a Nigeria-based financial content creator that has invested in many different blockchain projects, including Bitcoin, Ether, Stellar Lumens, Cardano, VeChain and Solana. He currently works as a financial markets and cryptocurrency writer and has contributed to a large number of the leading FX, stock and cryptocurrency blogs in the world.