FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried set to plead not guilty to new US charges

theguardian.com:

FTX cryptocurrency exchange founder Sam Bankman-Fried is expected to plead not guilty on Thursday to new US criminal charges, which include conspiring to violate campaign finance laws and bribe Chinese authorities.

Bankman-Fried, 31, had earlier pleaded not guilty to eight counts of fraud and conspiracy for allegedly stealing billions in FTX customer funds to plug losses at his hedge fund, Alameda Research. A person familiar with the matter told Reuters he also plans to plead not guilty to the new 13-count indictment.

The new charges add to the pressure on Bankman-Fried, who faces a possible sentence of decades in prison if convicted at a trial set to start on October 2.

He was arrested in December, after a flurry of customer withdrawals spurred by concerns about commingling of funds between the exchange and Alameda prompted the collapse of now-bankrupt FTX.

The initial indictment by the US attorney’s office in Manhattan contained few details about the alleged scheme. In an unusual post-arrest blogpost, the former billionaire acknowledged inadequate risk management at FTX, but said he did not steal funds.

Prosecutors in late February filed a new 12-count indictment elaborating on the fraud charges and accusing Bankman-Fried of illicitly contributing tens of millions of dollars to US political campaigns through straw donors, part of a strategy to buy influence in Washington.

And on Tuesday, prosecutors moved to unseal yet another indictment, which accused Bankman-Fried of conspiring to violate an anti-bribery law by orchestrating a $40m payment to Chinese authorities to regain access to $1bn in cryptocurrency in Alameda accounts that had been frozen.

Three former members of Bankman-Fried’s inner circle – former Alameda chief