Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried is facing accusations from the US Justice Department of paying $40 million in bribes to Chinese officials to unfreeze accounts linked to Alameda Research, FTX’s investment arm.
The Justice Department has released a revised indictment alleging that Bankman-Fried transferred approximately $40 million worth of cryptocurrency to one or more Chinese officials to unlock Alameda Research accounts.
The new count was added to existing charges of wire fraud, money laundering conspiracy, and commodity and securities fraud.
The accounts belonging to Alameda Research were reportedly frozen by Chinese authorities in November 2021, with holdings worth more than $1 billion in cryptocurrencies.
The company allegedly used these funds to continue losing trades at Alameda Research. While Bankman-Fried denies the allegations, former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison and FTX co-founder Gary Wang have already pleaded guilty to fraud.
In February, FTX CTO Nishad Singh pleaded guilty to money laundering through political campaign financing. Recently, FTX management demanded that American politicians return charitable donations that were previously received from the exchange.