Sam Bankman-Fried, also known as SBF, faces no campaign finance charges after siphoning millions of dollars from his crypto exchange “FTX” to political candidates. The Department of Justice says that The Bahamas refused to extradite SBF on that particular charge, so the decision was made to not go forward with prosecution. This is perplexing considering the fact that The Bahamas already extradited SBF on the still-pending fraud charges.
SBF founded FTX as a way for common people to invest their real cash into cryptocurrency which was supposed to make them a profit. The company wound up operating as a giant Ponzi scheme a la Bernie Madoff. Billions of dollars were misappropriated into other business ventures and personal spending such as real estate. SBF gave at least $90 million dollars to around 300 political candidates and political action groups or PACs. SBF is listed as the second-largest donor to the Democratic party in the period of time that he was actively donating.
He did not exclusively give to Democrats, though. His purpose was to purchase politicians to do his bidding. This strategy appears to have worked since the people he gave money to will not be involved with his criminal case.
SBF still faces fraud charges for stealing billions of dollars from FTX to use for his own personal means. He also faces charges for leaking the diary entries of Caroline Ellison. She was his former love interest and also the former CEO of his hedge fund, Alameda Research. This hedge fund received a ton of capital from FTX. Ellison is set to testify against SBF in the upcoming fraud trial.
SOURCES:
US Authorities Drop Charges SBF Campaign Finance Funds
US prosecutors drop campaign finance charges against SBF – Blockworks
Campaign Finance Charge Against Sam Bankman-Fried Is Dropped – The New York Times
Prosecutors Want Sam Bankman-Fried Jailed Before Fraud Trial – WSJ
DOJ Drops Campaign Finance Charge Against Dem Megadonor, Alleged Fraudster | The Daily Caller
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried charged with fraud l GMA – YouTube
Sam Bankman-Fried Free on $250 Million Bail – YouTube
HOT SPOT on Twitter: “US Department of Justice has dropped all campaign finance charges against Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of FTX. https://t.co/v0bcHR2ISR” / Twitter
