The U.S. Department of Justice today charged former congressional candidate Michelle Bond, the partner of former FTX executive Ryan Salame, for violating campaign finance laws.
The agency alleged on Thursday that Bond, 45, illegally funded her unsuccessful run for Congress in 2022 by taking $400,000 from FTX in what it framed as a sham consulting agreement arranged by Salame. Bond was campaigning to represent New York’s first congressional district.
Only yesterday, Salame asked a U.S. judge to prevent the indictment of Bond—and to reconsider his own conviction.
Former FTX Executive Salame Seeks to Overturn Conviction Alleging Breach of Deal on Partner’s Probe
Former FTX executive Ryan Salame has asked a U.S. judge to reconsider his conviction and prevent any potential indictment of his partner, Michelle Bond, alleging prosecutors failed to honor their promise to end the investigation into Bond as part of his plea agreement. Bloomberg and CNBC first reported on Salame's court filing, which alleges that federal prosecutors used the threat of continued scrutiny against Bond, a former congressional candidate and mother of his child, to coerce his guilty...
Salame was sentenced to 90 months in prison in May for conspiracy to make unlawful political contributions and defraud the Federal Election Commission. He had been the CEO of FTX Digital Markets, the Bahamian subsidiary of the criminally managed crypto exchange that went bust in 2022.
“As alleged, Michelle Bond and her co-conspirator romantic partner attempted to fund her campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives by illegally using hundreds of thousands of dollars from corporate coffers, among other sources, and then lying to Congress and others to cover it all up," said U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams, in a statement.
The charges are one count of conspiracy to cause unlawful campaign contributions; one count of causing and accepting excessive campaign contributions; one count of causing and receiving an unlawful corporate contribution; and one count of causing and receiving a conduit contribution, according to the indictment.
FTX Exec Ryan Salame Sentenced to 7.5 Years in Prison—But He Can Keep His Porsche
Former FTX executive Ryan Salame was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison on Tuesday, making him the latest leader of the fallen cryptocurrency exchange to land behind bars for his role in its downfall. But the news isn't all bad for Salame. While the one-time lieutenant to FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) and co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets Ltd. was braced for a years-long prison sentence—delivered in a Manhattan courtroom on Tuesday—federal prosecutors said Salame can hold onto a lux...
FTX, once one of the most recognized brands in the crypto space, unexpectedly went bankrupt in November 2022. Its co-founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested, charged and later jailed for fraud and criminally mismanaging the exchange. He will serve 25 years in prison.
Edited by Ryan Ozawa.
