Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried is the subject of a $100 million financial scandal involving using company assets to finance political donations, according to emails by the WSJ.
Emails recently disclosed by The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) indicated that SBF’s family substantially managed over $100 million in political contributions.
The funds, purportedly illicitly derived from FTX customer funds and intended to influence the 2022 election, have resulted in numerous legal proceedings.
SBF Family involvement
The involvement of SBF’s family was meticulously documented through emails that detailed SBF’s father, Joe Bankman,’s involvement in advising financial strategies related to political donations.
As the Wall Street Journal reported, the emails suggested that Joe Bankman was intimately involved in the illicit funding operations.
Barbara Fried, SBF’s mother, and his brother, Gabriel Bankman-Fried, are purportedly responsible for allocating funds to various political organizations and causes.
According to reports, Barbara, a super PAC Mind the Gap co-founder, allocated funds to progressive organizations and initiatives, while Gabriel directed donations to pandemic prevention initiatives.
Legal implications
David Mason, the former chairman of the Federal Election Commission, observed that Joe Bankman’s involvement could lead to direct legal liabilities under campaign finance regulations.
Mason observed that the emails contained “strong evidence” that Joe Bankman was aware of “the illegal straw-donor scheme.”
A spokesperson for Joe Bankman maintained that he was unaware of any purported campaign finance violations despite the evidence.
Ryan Salame, the former co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets, was sentenced to 7.5 years in prison on May 28 after pleading guilty to felony criminal offenses.
Following Salame’s guilty plea to conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting enterprise and engaging in campaign finance fraud, United States District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan imposed the sentence.
Salame’s sentencing culminated another chapter in the FTX saga, following the guilty pleas of former executives Caroline Ellison and Nishad Singh. They are currently awaiting their sentences.
