Bankrupt FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) is under fire for bribing Chinese officials with $40 million in cryptocurrency so they would unfreeze Alameda Research’s accounts.
US prosecutors filed a 13-count indictment stating Bankman-Fried transferred $40 million in crypto in 2021 from Alameda’s main trading account to a private wallet.
This was in order to convince a few Chinese officials to unfreeze Alameda accounts holding more than $1 billion in crypto.
As per a Reuters report, “prosecutors said the Alameda accounts had been frozen as part of an investigation into an unnamed Alameda counterparty, and Bankman-Fried’s prior efforts to lobby Chinese officials to lift the freeze were unsuccessful.”
Around the beginning of 2021, Chinese law enforcement agencies froze a number of Alameda accounts allegedly on two of China’s largest crypto exchanges.
Bankman-Fried was aware of the freeze, attempting several ways to unfreeze the accounts, including transferring crypto to sketchy accounts.
An insider claims that Bankman-Fried plans to enter a not-guilty plea on this new indictment as he is scheduled to appear in federal court in Manhattan on Thursday.
Bankman-Fried is already embroiled under multiple charges since the collapse of FTX and all its related firms. Last month, SBF faced 4 additional charges in bank fraud and political contribution. He could face 40 years of imprisonment if he is convicted of these additional charges.
Also Read: FTX to Recover $404M in Settlement with Modulo Capital
