Prosecutors in the United States have slapped former FTX cryptocurrency chief Sam Bankman-Fried with bribing Chinese officials, documents revealed on Tuesday.
The latest charge accuses the disgraced executive with bribing Chinese government officials to unfreeze accounts linked to his operations.
It read: “In or about November 2021, Samuel Bankman-Fried, a/k/a ‘SBF,’ the defendant, and others directed and caused the transfer of at least approximately $40 million in cryptocurrency intended for the benefit of one or more Chinese officials in order to influence and induce them to unfreeze the Accounts.”
Continuing, it stated the indictment included the “twelve counts contained in the S3 Superseding indictment” along with the “additional count for conspiracy to violate the anti-bribery provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (‘FCPA’), in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 371.”
The news comes after Bankman-Fried was released on $250 million USD bond after Bahamian authorities detained and extradited him to the United States late last year.
Courts have charged him with wire and financial fraud, in addition to contributing illegal political donations and defrauding investors in the list of offences outlined in his case.
