Sam Bankman-Fried, former FTX CEO, used straw donors to influence 2022 election, court filing says
The former CEO of the cryptocurrency firm FTX used two close associates to make tens of millions of dollars in donations to political candidates in the run-up to November’s election, an indictment unsealed Thursday says.Â
Sam Bankman-Fried used one of those associates to be the company’s face of donations to “center-left” candidates and causes, and the other to donate to Republican candidates and causes, according to the indictment.Â
In all, Bankman-Fried and the two associates “made over 300 political contributions, totaling tens of millions of dollars, that were unlawful because they were made in the name of a straw donor or paid for with corporate funds.”Â
The grand jury indictment, which supersedes a previous indictment from December, charges him with conspiracy to make unlawful political contributions and defraud the Federal Election Commission.Â
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