NEW YORK, March 30 — Indicted FTX cryptocurrency exchange founder Sam Bankman-Fried is expected to plead not guilty today to new US criminal charges, which include conspiring to violate campaign finance laws and bribe Chinese authorities.
The new charges add to the pressure on Bankman-Fried, who faces a possible sentence of decades in prison if convicted at a trial set to start on Oct. 2. The initial indictment by the US Attorney’s office in Manhattan contained few details about the alleged scheme. In an unusual post-arrest blog post, the former billionaire acknowledged inadequate risk management at FTX, but said he did not steal funds.
And on Tuesday, prosecutors moved to unseal yet another indictment, which accused Bankman-Fried of conspiring to violate an anti-bribery law by orchestrating a US$40 million payment to Chinese authorities to regain access to US$1 billion in cryptocurrency in Alameda accounts that had been frozen.