How Sam Bankman-Fried And His Crypto Empire Used Dark Money To Influence U.S. Elections – By Shawn Fleetwood (The Federalist) / Nov 3, 2023
Sam Bankman-Fried was just one facet of an orchestrated effort among FTX executives to interfere in U.S. elections.
Following a month-long trial, former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was convicted in federal court on Thursday on seven counts related to defrauding investors of billions of dollars.
Thursday’s conviction came after it was discovered last November that FTX and Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency trading firm Alameda Research had notable overlaps on their balance sheets. This called into question FTX’s liquidity, prompting users to withdraw $6 billion from the company and leading to its bankruptcy. Bankman-Fried, or SBF, ultimately admitted to “funneling billions of dollars in customer funds to his own hedge fund,” which “upend[ed] the entire cryptocurrency sector.”
Federal prosecutors went on to file charges the following month.
According to CNBC, the 31-year-old was convicted on Thursday of “wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud against FTX customers and against Alameda Research lenders, conspiracy to commit securities fraud and conspiracy to commit commodities fraud against FTX investors, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.” SBF — who pled not guilty to the charges — now faces up to more than 100 years in prison.
