Campaign finance charge dropped from case against Sam Bankman-Fried
Prosecutors have withdrawn a campaign finance charge from eight counts among charges FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried will face at an October trial
NEW YORK — FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried will no longer face a campaign finance charge at an October criminal trial, federal prosecutors say, citing a decision by Bahamian authorities to reject a count in the indictment that was not listed on the warrant against him when he was extradited to the United States in December.
Prosecutors told U.S. District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan in a letter that the government in the Bahamas notified it on Wednesday that authorities there did not consider the charge to be included in Bankman-Fried's extradition. Thus, prosecutors wrote, they would not pursuit it at the trial, in keeping with U.S. treaty obligations to the Bahamas.
Bankman-Fried, 31, has been confined to his parent's Palo Alto, California, home as part of a $250 million bail package that prosecutors on Wednesday asked a judge to revoke. Prosecutors say his extensive contact with the news media demonstrates an effort to affect the jury pool. His lawyers deny it. The judge has imposed a gag rule while he decides the issue.
The man once viewed as a crypto guru has pleaded not guilty to charges that he cheated investors and looted FTX customer deposits to fund lavish lifestyles for some of those who aided his dramatic rise in the cryptocurrency world. FTX entered bankruptcy in November when the global exchange ran out of money after the equivalent of a bank run.
In early May, Bankman-Fried’s lawyers sought dismissal of a charge of conspiracy to defraud the United States and violate campaign finance laws, the eighth count in the original indictment against him, saying it was not included
Read more on abcnews.go.com
