Did Sam Bankman-Fried fund Democrats with client funds?

Sam Bankman-Fried was considered one of the Democrats' biggest party donors. But the donations may have come from embezzled client money.

Sam Bankman-Fried was the second-largest Democratic party donor in U.S. history. He also secretly gave financial support to Republicans to maximize his political influence in Washington. Now it appears that the FTX founder's donations were likely embezzled client funds. This emerges from a updated indictment. Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF). According to the business magazine Forbes a total of US$100 million is at stake.

Seven counts of conspiracy and fraud were added to the indictment against Sam Bankman-Fried last Monday, Aug. 14, 2023. SBF allegedly secretly diverted money from clients of FTX's sister company Alameda Research to personal bank accounts of Alameda executives, who then used it to make donations - at his direction. His purpose in making these donations was to maximize his political influence. He used this influence, according to the U.S. federal indictment, to lobby the U.S. Congress and relevant regulators to improve the legal situation for FTX so that the crypto exchange could more easily generate user and customer funds.

It is unclear whether the donations will have to be repaid during the insolvency proceedings.

Sam Bankman-Fried in prison

Only late last week did the judge in charge of the Sam Bankman-Fried case, Lewis Kaplan, order his lift house arrest. To avoid jail until and during his trial, SBF had paid US$250 million bail - but that has now been suspended. Reason: repeated violations of conditions.

"In light of the evidence, I conclude that it is likely that the defendant attempted to influence witnesses on at least two occasions," Kaplan summarized, concluding, "All things considered, I will revoke bail."

The trial of Sam Bankman-Fried is scheduled for October 2023.