FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried charged with bribing Chinese officials | Business News

Disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has been accused of paying $40m (£32.4m) in bribes to Chinese officials.

Prosecutors allege he directed payments to unfreeze accounts belonging to his hedge fund that were linked to Soar.

Accounts at his trading firm Alameda Research, which allegedly hold more than $1bn (£812m) in cryptocurrencies, have allegedly been frozen by Chinese authorities.

Prosecutors allege they were unfrozen after the alleged bribe was paid around November 2021.

Bankman-Fried is accused of transferring tens of millions of dollars worth of additional cryptocurrency to complete the bribe.

The 31-year-old has pleaded not guilty to eight counts related to the collapse of FTX last year.

It ran out of money on Nov. 11, after the cryptocurrency equivalent of a bank run.

Prosecutors allege Bankman-Fried stole billions of dollars in client funds to cover Alameda’s losses.

He faces 13 charges in total.

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December: Bankman-Fried leaves court on $250 million bond

That includes four counts accusing him of orchestrating an illegal campaign contribution scheme to buy influence in Washington, D.C.

A spokesman for Bankman-Fried declined to comment on the latest allegations.

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He is due to appear in court in New York on Thursday.

The fallen tycoon has been living with his parents in Palo Alto, California, since December, but communications are severely restricted as part of his $250 million bail package.

His lawyers have agreed to limit his use to a laptop and mobile phone and bar him from using any other mobile phone, tablet, computer, video game or “smart” device with internet access.

However, that does not include other electronic devices his lawyers have that he may need to prepare for trial.

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