Prosecutors say Sam Bankman-Fried paid bribes to Chinese officials to get Alameda’s frozen funds released
American authorities accuse Sam Bankman-Fried of paying Chinese officials to disclose Alameda Research’s accounts.
U.S. authorities charge former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried with paying Chinese officials to lift freezes on accounts associated with the Alameda Research hedge fund.
A new charge claims that Bankman-Fried hired lawyers to assist in unfreezing the accounts and taking other steps to get at the money. He also faked the identities of people who had nothing to do with FTX to get around Chinese government censorship.
When these strategies failed, Bankman-Fried reportedly emailed an Alameda worker to compensate colleagues. The payoff was at least $40 million, according to court documents.
Inner City Press, a non-profit that advocates for the public interest, criticized the prosecutors who filed the extortion allegations against SBF for failing to adjust Bankman-Fried’s free time terms.
Bankman-Fried has pled not guilty to eight counts and is free on a $250,000,000 recognizance fee. Among the accusations are offenses against campaign funding regulations, wire theft, and money trafficking. Bankman-Fried has not yet entered a statement of guilt or innocence to four new counts included in a supplemental document submitted by prosecutors. The bribes allegation brings the grand tally to thirteen.
Recently, attorneys for Bankman-Fried agreed with authorities to give the former CEO access to a primary phone and PC while out on bond.
The surveillance software on his new notebook is permanently installed and cannot be turned off. Only voice calls and SMS messages will be available on his new phone.
Bankman-Fried’s parents, Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, also submitted a declaration to restrict their daughter’s access to their home’s computers and other electronic equipment. They also made a pact not to bring any new electronics inside.
Bankman-Fried must hand over his new notebook and phone for inspection if there is any suspicion that he has broken the terms of the latest deals.
These terms and conditions will only effect once Judge Lewis Kaplan approves them. Prosecutors in the United States earlier voiced worry that Sam Bankman-Fried had interfered with evidence in the criminal case against him by sending misleading messages to witnesses using the private messaging app Signal. The court also implied that Bankman-Fried was trying to avoid government surveillance because he used a virtual private network to view the NFL Super Bowl event.
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