Sam Bankman-Fried, The former CEO of bankrupt exchange FTX is facing a new accusation. Sam allegedly paid $40 million in bribes to Chinese authorities to recover assets of his investment company, Alameda Research, frozen by the Chinese government. This charge adds to a long list of crimes recently filed against him. Sam unsurprisingly pleaded not guilty before Judge Lewis Kaplan.
Former FTX CEO Faces Another Charge
Sam Bankman-Friedcontinues to face troubles judicial and a corruption charge in China in 2021 has just been added to his long list of charges.
According to a document filed with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan this Tuesday, March 28, Sam allegedly paid about $40 million in bribes to Chinese authorities to recover assets from his investment company, Alameda Research. Indeed, the trading accounts of Alameda, which contained about $1 billion in crypto, had been frozen in China.
According to the document, the move was part of an investigation by Chinese authorities into a business counterparty of the company Alameda at the beginning of the year 2021.
After failing to unlock the accounts with the help of his lawyers and lobbyists, Sam decided to bribe the authorities to recover his assets. The document indicates that 40 million for the bribe was transferred in November 2021 from the main trading account from Alameda to a private wallet. Lhe accounts were then unfrozen shortly thereafter.
This new charge is in addition to a list of 12 charges filed at the end of Februaryincluding donations to political figures, including Joe Biden, during his presidential campaign. The trial on these new charges will begin in October of this year in New York
Sam pleads not guilty to the new charge
After the presentation of the indictment document charging SBF of corruption, the judge Lewis Kaplan a convened a hearing this Thursday, March 30. According to Reuters, Sam Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty to the charges that were brought against him, including violation of U.S. campaign finance and bribery laws in China.
It was through his lawyer Mark Cohen that SBF claimed his innocence. Cohen, SBF’s loyal advocate, stated after the hearing that he plans to oppose these new charges before the May 8 deadline, as they were filed after his client’s extradition.
Indeed, the extradition treaty between the United States and the Bahamas provides that the accused may be punished and tried only for charges brought at the time of extradition. However, this could change if the two governments reach a compromise.
The Sam Bankman-Fried Case has been going on for a while now, and one can’t wait to see how it will end. Let’s hope that the truth will come out and that justice will be done…
As a journalist at Coinpri, I’ve been captivated by the world of bitcoin and blockchain since 2020. The decentralized aspect of Bitcoin particularly piqued my interest. Since then, I’ve been working constantly to spread my knowledge, hoping one day to see a world where everyone fully enjoys their financial freedom.
