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Sam Bankman-Fried to Plead Not Guilty to Bribery, Campaign-Finance Charges: Reuters
The FTX founder previously pleaded not guilty to eight charges of fraud and conspiracy and is awaiting trial in October.
Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, will plead not guilty on charges of trying to evade campaign-financing laws and attempting to bribe one or more Chinese government officials, Reuters reported on Thursday.
Bankman-Fried previously pleaded not guilty to eight charges of fraud and conspiracy and is awaiting trial in New York in October.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
With the addition of accusations of attempting to evade campaign-finance laws and bribery of Chinese government officials, Bankman-Fried now faces a 13-count indictment.
Along with charges of fraud, prosecutors accused Bankman-Fried in February of conspiracy of make unlawful political contributions.
Bankman-Fried is accused of trying to bribe one or more Chinese government officials with around $40 million worth of crypto in an attempt to unfreeze certain accounts of his trading firm Alameda Research, which also filed for bankruptcy.
Lawyers for Bankman-Fried didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
A one-time billionaire, Bankman-Fried was arrested in December. He is free on bail residing at his parents' home in Palo Alto, Calif., following a $250 million bond. As part of the conditions of his bail, he has been given a new phone without internet access and a new laptop that can access only approved websites.
Read more: How Effective Altruism Power Brokers Helped Make Sam Bankman-Fried
UPDATE (March 30, 14:50 UTC): Adds paragraph on CoinDesk's request for confirmation from Bankman-Fried's lawyers.
Jamie Crawley
Jamie has been part of CoinDesk's news team since February 2021, focusing on breaking news, Bitcoin tech and protocols and crypto VC. He holds BTC, ETH and DOGE.
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