The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has reversed its stance on the campaign finance charges against Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX. Just two weeks after citing treaty obligations as a hindrance to pursuing the charges, prosecutors now assert their intention to push forward with allegations of an “illegal campaign finance” scheme during Bankman-Fried’s impending trial in October.
A forthcoming indictment, slated to be filed next week, will bring seven counts against Bankman-Fried. Notably, six of these charges were present in the original indictment, while the seventh – related to campaign funding – was initially dismissed due to a U.S.-Bahamas extradition pact. However, the DOJ plans to merge the campaign finance accusations with a wire fraud prosecution.
The DOJ contends that Bankman-Fried’s utilization of customer deposits for political campaigns aligns with the wire fraud claims in the initial indictment. The updated charges will emphasize that Bankman-Fried is still accused of orchestrating an illegal campaign finance scheme within the broader context of fraud and money laundering allegations.
The DOJ asserts that Bankman-Fried attempted to mask the origins of his ill-gotten gains through “political straw donations” – a key component of the money laundering conspiracy initially brought against him. The prosecution argues that these campaign financing activities are directly pertinent to the upcoming trial, as it plans to elaborate on in its upcoming pretrial motion arguments.
Remarkably, there are numerous superseding indictments against Bankman-Fried. His first trial is set to commence on October 2, 2023, followed by a second trial scheduled for March 20, 2024. This sudden shift in the DOJ’s strategy has thrown a new spotlight on the legal proceedings, reshaping the narrative around Bankman-Fried’s alleged financial misconduct.
While the specifics of the forthcoming indictment remain undisclosed, this latest development significantly alters the trajectory of the case. It is evident that the DOJ’s reconsideration of the campaign finance charges has injected fresh complexity, and anticipation, into the legal battles that lie ahead for the FTX founder.
