The office of Republican Senator Bob Latta of Ohio confirmed receiving a letter from the DOJ.
In October 2022, Latta received $2900 for his campaign from former FTX Global Markets executive Ryan Salame.
Total donations given to various candidates, mostly Republicans, totaled about $23 million.
Senator Latta’s office noted: the amount was turned over to the DOJ on the first request, and the request itself came as early as the beginning of the year.
Some politicians, such as Marc Molinaro and Elise Stefanik of New York, and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, have also returned donated funds, and that money now lies frozen in DOJ accounts.
“The funds were transferred so that people who were defrauded could receive some compensation for their losses,” said the office of Congresswoman Lori Chavez-DeRemer, who also received money from FTX.
FTX Group sent letters to politicians in February demanding they return tens of millions of dollars in donations they received from the cryptocurrency exchange by February 28.
According to reports in the U.S. media, we may be talking about the amount of $93 million.
However, there are also politicians who have said they have already donated to charity.
In response, the bankruptcy managers of FTX warned: the lawyers will do everything to return the funds.
Meanwhile, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried filed a motion to dismiss 10 of 13 counts, including fraud, collusion and bribery of foreign officials.
The prosecutor’s office is expected to respond to Bankman-Fried’s petition by the end of the month.