Ex-FTX executive Salame's partner charged with violating US campaign finance laws
By Luc Cohen
NEW YORK, Aug 22 (Reuters) -Michelle Bond, a former U.S. congressional candidate and the romantic partner of former FTX cryptocurrency exchange executive Ryan Salame, has been charged with violating campaign finance laws, federal prosecutors said on Thursday.
The U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan said Bond, during her unsuccessful 2022 campaign for a New York congressional seat, used $400,000 from the cryptocurrency exchange where her partner was an executive to finance her campaign, in violation of laws prohibiting corporate contributions.
Prosecutors did not name Salame or FTX. But in a court filing on Wednesday, Salame accused prosecutors of reneging on an assurance they would not investigate Bond - who he said is the mother of his child - if he pleaded guilty.
Salame pleaded guilty last year to making tens of millions of dollars in unlawful campaign contributions to boost causes supported by his boss, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried. He was sentenced in May to 7-1/2 years in prison.
In his Wednesday filing, Salame urged U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan to vacate his guilty plea because prosecutors had resumed their investigation of Bond.
Bond, 45, worked at cryptocurrency trade group Association for Digital Asset Markets from 2020-2022, according to her LinkedIn profile. She lost a 2022 Republican primary to represent part of New York state's Long Island in Congress.
She faces four criminal counts, including causing and receiving an unlawful contribution and causing and receiving a straw contribution.
Bankman-Fried was sentenced in March to 25 years in prison on charges of stealing $8 billion from FTX customers, which prosecutors called one of the biggest financial frauds in U.S. history.
Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; editing by Jonathan Oatis
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
