(New York) A former senior executive at bankrupt cryptocurrency issuer FTX pleaded guilty Thursday to making tens of millions of dollars in illegal campaign contributions to U.S. politicians and engaging in a criminal conspiracy seeking to operate an unlicensed money transfer business.
Ryan Salame, former co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets, is the fourth senior official from the company or one of its subsidiaries to plead guilty to criminal charges.
As part of a deal with prosecutors, he agreed to return up to $1.55 billion in assets. He could also be called as a witness in the trial of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who was arrested last year in the Bahamas and extradited to the United States to face charges that he committed a host of crimes. crimes while running the popular digital currency exchange.
Mr. Salame, 30, admitted before a Manhattan judge that he illegally used millions of dollars from a hedge fund controlled by Mr. Bankman-Fried to provide political contributions in 2020 and 2021 to Democrats and Republicans .
The purpose of the donations, he explained, was to fund political initiatives supported by Mr. Bankman-Fried. In a criminal complaint unsealed Thursday, prosecutors said they obtained private messages in which Mr. Salame wrote that Mr. Bankman-Fried wanted to support politicians from both parties who were “pro crypto,” while working to dislodge “anti-crypto” lawmakers.
Mr. Salame’s sentencing was tentatively scheduled for March. While waiting for this, he was released from federal prison and left the courthouse without speaking to journalists.
A lawyer for Mr. Salame, Jason Linder, has not commented on the situation.
Bankman-Fried is awaiting trial on charges that he defrauded clients by embezzling their money to cover his expenses, illegally contributing to a campaign and trading in a separate crypto hedge fund he founded, Alameda Research.
Three other executives close to Mr. Bankman-Fried have already pleaded guilty: Caroline Ellison, Nishad Singh and Gary Wang.
Mr. Bankman-Fried’s trial is scheduled for October.
Mr. Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty. He was out on bail awaiting trial, but was recently jailed after a judge ruled he tried to influence potential witnesses in the case, including by releasing Ms. Ellison’s private writings to agencies Press.
Before FTX collapsed and declared bankruptcy in November, Mr. Bankman-Fried was one of the best-known American cryptocurrency entrepreneurs. His company had hired celebrities to appear in television commercials.
