Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has been charged again. This time for bribing at least $40 million to one or more Chinese government officials. The allegation is that Bankman-Fried authorized and directed the bribery to release some of the accounts held by FTX sister company Alameda, which held over $1 billion in cryptocurrency.
The federal attorney’s office filed a supplemental indictment against Bankman-Fried on Tuesday, March 28, 2023. It alleges he tried to unfreeze the funds in November 2021 before allegedly resorting to a bribe that eventually resulted in the funds being released. Bankman-Fried is accused of exhausting numerous methods to achieve the goal before finally settling on the bribe.
The indictment also states that Bankman-Fried authorized and ordered the illegal transfer of cryptocurrencies in order to influence Chinese officials and declassify his trading accounts. One of his employees was allegedly authorized to send part of the bribe payment to other employees, including one in the US.
Allegations of money laundering and improper political contributions
In addition to the bribery charge, there are other allegations against Bankman-Fried. In December last year, he was charged with money laundering and fraud and was released on $250 million bail. Four more charges were brought against him in February, including new charges of bank fraud and money laundering and amended charges of campaign finance. The indictment alleges that Bankman-Fried engaged in fraudulent activities by opening and using bank accounts associated with his company, Alameda Research, to accept customer deposits and transfer funds. He is also accused of embezzling customer deposits and making unlawful political contributions in order to gain non-partisan influence.
This is just one more time Bankman-Fried has gotten in trouble with the law. In 2021, the FTX exchange had a technical outage that halted trading for several hours and resulted in millions of dollars in losses. Additionally, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has investigated the FTX exchange for violating US securities laws.
Bankman-Fried is also known for his philanthropic endeavors. He has given millions of dollars to charity in the past. In 2021, for example, he donated $5.2 million to the Against Malaria Foundation to fund bed nets for people in need in Africa.
Court Date and Consequences
The bribery charge against Bankman-Fried will now be heard in court. The indictment is scheduled for Thursday, March 30 in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York in Manhattan. These are the latest allegations Bankman-Fried has faced since his arrest in the Bahamas in December.
If found guilty, he faces severe penalties, including a long prison sentence. The FTX exchange and its sister company Alameda are also expected to be impacted as the company may face restrictions and investigations.
The new bail terms also ban Bankman-Fried from using a smartphone and he is to be given a non-smartphone that has no internet or signal access. In addition, he will have to give up his existing laptop, which only allows access to certain websites such as YouTube, Wikipedia and Netflix. This will prevent him from accessing online games like League of Legends.
While the world anxiously awaits the outcome of Bankman-Fried’s court case, and he and the FTX exchange may face restrictions and investigations, there is good news in a very different sector of the economy. Electric vehicles have become an important part of a sustainable future and the demand for modern charging infrastructure is increasing rapidly.
The sustainable project C+Charge is in the final hours of the presale round
Fortunately, there are companies like C+batch, that combine the fields of cryptocurrency and electromobility in an innovative and serious way and offer users a transparent and cost-efficient way to charge their vehicles. Instead of worrying about the negative headlines of the crypto industry, we can focus on the bright future of electric mobility and companies like C+ batch that make a real contribution to a sustainable future.
We are on the cusp of a revolution in the world of mobility that sees electric vehicles as an important part of a sustainable future. The demand for a modern charging infrastructure is increasing rapidly as more and more people switch to electric mobility. Most experts agree that electric vehicles belong to the future and that they are the key to environmentally friendly and sustainable mobility.
C+ batch is a visionary project that uniquely combines the fields of cryptocurrency and electric mobility to offer users an innovative solution for charging their vehicles. By using blockchain technology, C+Charge creates cost-efficient and transparent processes that meet user needs. The company rewards users for charging their vehicles with carbon credits and offers a sophisticated payment system based on cryptocurrencies.
The Binance Smart Chain-based blockchain from C+ batch enables users to charge their electric vehicles while generating carbon credits. These can then be used as a reward to fund further charging or traded as cryptocurrency. The company has already raised an impressive pre-sale funding of over $3.5 million and is in its eighth and final last pre-sale phase.
By working closely with other projects, such as partnering with Recharge DeFi, C+Charge will expand its reach and enhance its offering. This partnership will strengthen connections to over 5,000 charging station providers and 3.8 million electric vehicle charging points worldwide. C+ batch is poised to revolutionize the electric vehicle and cryptocurrency industries alike.
The international team at C+Charge is committed to accelerating the transition to e-mobility to enable a sustainable future. This will help strengthen C+Charge’s presence in the global market and appeal to an even larger audience.
