SBF Indicted on 4 New Charges, Alleged Bank Fraud and Unlicensed Money Transmitter
Summary of the Article
- Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested in December and is facing eight criminal charges relating to fraud, money laundering and campaign finance laws.
- Federal prosecutors have now added four new charges to his list, including conspiracy to commit bank fraud and operate an unlicensed money transmitter.
- The indictment also examines how SBF utilized others to contribute to political movements that he did not want himself or his business entities to be tied to.
Background of Sam Bankman-Fried
Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) was arrested in December in the Bahamas for allegedly running a cryptocurrency exchange empire with immense failure. This led to regulatory scrutiny as well as impacts on the industry. Federal prosecutors have announced a new indictment of Sam Bankman-Fried with four additional criminal charges.
Charges Against SBF
SBF is currently facing eight counts by the United States Southern District Court of New York. These include: conspiracy to commit wire fraud on customers, wire fraud on customers, conspiracy to commit wire fraud on lenders, wire fraud on lenders, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy t defraud the United States and violate the Campaign Finance Laws. The four additional charges include: conspiracy to commit bank fraud and operate an unlicensed money transmitter.
Details Alleged by Prosecutors
The document alleging these new charges starts with the claim that “From at least in or about 2019, up to and including in or about November 2022, Samuel Bankman-Fried corrupted the operations of the cryptocurrency companies he founded and controlled.” It further alleges that instead of protecting their customer’s interests through segregation of assets as promised; SBF used their assets for private expenditures without disclosing this risk resulting from this decision. It also claims that while publicly claiming FTX operated independently from Alameda’s cryptocurrency trading & investments; this was not actually true due its design by SBF himself.