Federal prosecutors dropped a campaign finance charge on Thursday against FTX founder and crypto scammer Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) due to ‘procedural failing.’
Democrat doner Sam Bankman-Fried, 30, spent more than $40 million to fund the midterms with his Ponzi scheme through his crypto exchange (FTX).
Following the collapse of FTX last year, up to $2 billion has disappeared into a black hole.
SBF is Biden’s second biggest donor and funneled money through Ukraine, which in turn funded Democrats.
However, Sam Bankman-Fried still faces wire fraud and securities fraud charges.
Prosecutors said they were dropping the campaign finance charge against SBF because they “failed to obtain permission from the government of the Bahamas for that charge when Bankman-Fried was extradited from the island nation in December,” according to CNBC.
CNBC reported:
Federal prosecutors dropped a campaign finance charge against Sam Bankman-Fried, the second time that they have narrowed the indictment against the founder of crypto exchange FTX.
Prosecutors told Judge Lewis Kaplan on Wednesday that they were dropping the conspiracy charge to make unlawful campaign contributions because they had failed to obtain permission from the Bahamas government for that charge when Bankman-Fried was extradited from the island nation in December.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan previously dropped another charge against him, for violating anti-bribery statutes, on the same grounds.
The moves narrow the criminal exposure of the former billionaire, who prosecutors allege conspired to defraud investors and customers out of billions. The alleged scheme precipitated the collapse of Bankman-Fried’s FTX and sent shockwaves throughout the crypto industry.
Sam Bankman-Fried was silent as he left a Manhattan courthouse after the campaign finance charge was dropped.
Watch
In January, Sam Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty to all eight counts related to the sudden collapse of his crypto Ponzi scheme.
In June, SBF pleaded not guilty in New York to eight charges related to the collapse of his former crypto exchange FTX and hedge fund Alameda Research.
SBF was indicted on eight counts, including the following charges:
- Conspiracy to commit wire fraud and securities fraud
- Individual charges of securities fraud and wire fraud
- Money laundering
- Conspiracy to avoid campaign finance regulations (now dropped)
Last month, Conservative commentator Ian Miles Cheong predicted SBF would walk:
“SBF is going to walk. Just watch”
