Ex-FTX CEO empties stolen $100M for political donations

The updated indictment says that Bankman-Fried made donations to Democrats and Republicans in order to hide the origin of the money

Ex-head of cryptocurrency exchange FTX Sam Bankman-Fried used money he stole from the site's customers to contribute more than $100 million in political campaign donations ahead of the U.S. midterm elections in 2022, Reuters reported, citing a statement from the U.S. federal prosecutor's office.

The updated indictment accuses Bankman-Fried of making donations to both Democrats and Republicans to hide the origin of the money.

"He <...> used this influence to lobby Congress and regulators in support of legislation and regulation that he believed would make it easier for FTX to continue accepting customer deposits and grow," the indictment says.

The court revoked Bankman-Fried's bail on Aug. 14. The ex-head of FTX will remain in custody until his trial, which begins in October.

In August, former FTX top executive Ryan Salame began plea negotiations with prosecutors. However, it was not reported whether he would testify against Bankman-Fried.

On June 28, FTX's new CEO John Ray said the company had "launched a stakeholder engagement process to reboot the FTX.com exchange."

FTX Group's bankruptcy proceedings have been ongoing for several months. The management company began dealing with refunds from recipients of donations from ex-exchange CEO Bankman-Fried and his former colleagues as early as late December 2022. The company said that if the previously transferred funds are not returned voluntarily, FTX representatives will appeal to the court with a demand to return not only the money itself but also the interest on it, which will be accrued from the date of filing documents with the court.