The founder of one of the world's largest crypto exchanges has been charged with another crime, this time bribery, among others. According to prosecutors, Bankman-Fried paid $40 million to Chinese officials to unfreeze the accounts of his hedge fund.

The thirty-one-year-old founder of the FTX exchange has already been charged in a 13-count indictment related to the collapse of his platform in November 2022. The payment was to be made in the form of cryptocurrency to a private wallet from Alameda's main trading account, which at the time had a volume of more than $1 billion.

The accounts were frozen as part of an investigation into Alameda's unnamed counterparty, and Bankman-Fried's previous efforts against Chinese officials were unsuccessful. He is currently confined to staying at his parents' home in Palo Alto, California, with access to only one cellphone with no internet and a laptop with basic functions. The founder of the FTX exchange plans to plead not guilty to this charge.

This case is part of an escalating crackdown by US prosecutors and regulators who are gradually uncovering the full story behind the crypto exchange's downfall. Last Thursday, Do Kwon, the man behind Terraform Labs, the company behind the TerraUSD and Luna coins that crashed, was arrested in Montenegro. He was carrying fake documents. Binance and its founder Changpeng Zhao are also facing charges for conducting unauthorized transactions.

Sources:

https://www.ctvnews.ca/business/bankman-fried-charged-with-paying-us-40m-bribe-to-china-1.6332282 

https://apnews.com/article/bankmanfried-cryptocurrency-indictment-0f9ed9ae6353c802416a98eb2ff94218 

https://www.investing.com/news/stock-market-news/ftxs-bankmanfried-charged-with-bribery-conspiracy-in-new-indictment-3042502