The Justice Department will not pursue campaign funding charges against former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. According to information provided in a DOJ petition made late Wednesday to New York federal judge Lewis Kaplan, the decision was made following Bahamian extradition statutes.
Due to the filing's admission that the Bahamas "did not intend to extradite the defendant on the campaign contribution count," the campaign finance accusation was dropped from the trial's agenda, Newsmax reported.
According to a report from The Wall Street Journal, Sam Bankman-Fried had given a sizeable gift to US President Joe Biden's presidential campaign, making it the second-largest contribution.
Before the business filed for bankruptcy, Bankman-Fried and other FTX executives gave at least $1 million in total to political causes, including a sizable gift to the Senate Republican leadership, as per Roll Call.
A Victory For Bankman-Fried
The defense team for the ex-FTX CEO, who said that the United States conducted the extradition procedure improperly, saw the rejection of the campaign funding indictment as a triumph, according to The New York Times.
This decision was made after the prosecution decided in June not to pursue five more counts added to Bankman-Fried's charge after his extradition, instead choosing to go forward with an October trial.
The exploitation of client deposits by Sam Bankman-Fried and other FTX employees to support about $90 million in political donations to around 300 political candidates or political action organizations has been charged by the prosecution. The receivers of these contributions have been asked to repay them by the prosecution and FTX's bankruptcy attorneys.
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In 2022, Bankman-Fried gave the Democrats an enormous $46.5 million contribution, making him the party's second-largest contributor (after George Soros). In order to avoid attention, he claimed to have donated the same amount to Republicans using dark money sources.
Sam Bankman-Fried further disclosed that the PAC "West Realm Shire Services," connected to FTX, had given $1 million to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell's Senate Leadership Fund and $750,000 to House Leader Kevin McCarthy's Congressional Leadership Fund.
The Case Is Far From Over
The case against him is far from over as Judge Kaplan has scheduled a hearing to discuss revoking his $250 million bail in light of accusations that he leaked Caroline Ellison, his ex-girlfriend and the former head of Alameda Research, to the media in an effort to discredit her as a potential witness against him, per MarketWatch.
Sam Bankman-Fried will go before the court in October and be accused of seven offenses, including allegations of cheating FTX's clients and lenders.
According to the prosecution, he masterminded a significant scam, diverting billions of dollars from client deposits to pay for political campaigns, charity giving, and real estate purchases.
Prosecutors also want to retry Bankman-Fried on the five allegations that were dropped in June, which included the charge of bribery of a foreign government. Due to the extradition dispute in the Bahamas, the trial was delayed.
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