Investigators Seek Details on Sam Bankman-Fried’s Political Donations Amid Ongoing Fraud Case
Investigators Seek Details on Sam Bankman-Fried’s Political Donations Amid Ongoing Fraud Case
The prosecutors investigating former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) have reportedly reached out to top members of the Democratic Party demanding information about the political donations made by the entrepreneur.
Democratic members from the United States Democratic National Committee (DNC), the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), and Congressman Hakeem Jeffries were all contacted by SBF prosecutors for information to aid their ongoing investigations, according to a report by the New York Times.
The United States attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York sent an email to the Democratic Party elections lawyer Marc Elias, requesting details on donations made by SBF. Similar inquiries were sent to other members of both the Democratic and Republican parties.
On Dec. 12, the Royal Bahamas police arrested SBF based on a request from the U.S. government, just a day before he was supposed to testify before Congress. The entrepreneur has been charged with eight counts of financial and election fraud, revolving around the alleged siphoning of $1.8 billion in customer funds.
The ongoing investigations into SBF’s political donations gained attention due to his status as the Democrats’ second-largest individual donor, contributing a total of $39.8 million.
On Dec. 17, three prominent Democratic groups — the DNC, the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and the DCCC — reportedly decided to return SBF-linked donations to FTX investors, totaling over $1 million.
As previously reported by Cointelegraph, a DNC spokesperson confirmed the decision, stating:
“Given the allegations around potential campaign finance violations by Bankman-Fried, we are setting aside funds to return the $815,000 in contributions since 2020. We will return as soon as we receive proper direction in the legal proceedings.”
The other two Committees, DSCC and DCCC, have also pledged to set aside $103,000 and $250,000 for reimbursement, respectively.
