IT’S GOOD TO BE THE NOMENKLATURA: Sam Bankman-Fried spared from second trial.
U.S. prosecutors dropped plans for a second trial of Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of the now-bankrupt FTX cryptocurrency exchange.
In a letter filed in a Manhattan federal court Friday, prosecutors said “strong public interest” in a prompt resolution of their case against Bankman-Fried outweighed the benefits of a second trial.
Bankman-Fried was accused of looting $8 billion from FTX customers out of sheer greed.
Last month, he was convicted of fraud and conspiracy.
And would have faced a second set of six charges including campaign finance violations, conspiracy to commit bribery, and others.
Those six charges were severed from his first trial.
Flashback: FTX Founder Spent $40 Million As Democrat Midterm Megadonor.
Leading up to Sam Bankman-Fried’s spectacular implosion – in which his firm FTX evaporated billions in wealth after the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange allegedly commingled client assets with his trading firm into a liquidity crunch – he became the sixth-largest donor in this year’s midterm election cycle, giving some $40 million to mostly Democratic candidates and causes.
According to Forbes, Bankman-Fried was second only to George Soros among billionaire donors to Democratic groups during the 2022 midterm election cycle.
FTX allegedly loaned Alameda Research – a trading firm founded by Bankman-Fried – roughly $10 billion in client assets, which has landed him under federal investigation by the SEC, CTFC, and the Justice Department – the latter of which already had been working on a months-long investigation, according to the Wall Street Journal. The CTFC, meanwhile, is tasked with regulating certain elements of the crypto markets – including digital assets that are as commodities, and crypto exchanges and clearinghouses.
In late September, Bankman-Fried admitted that his political donations were mostly to Democrats, and Republican recipients were ‘targeted’.
Sealed with a kiss, you might say: