A former FTX executive will plead guilty to charges related to the fraud case against failed cryptocurrency exchange founder Sam Bankman-Fried.
Ryan Salame, who worked as a senior executive at FTX, is expected to enter his guilty plea Thursday at a hearing in federal court in Manhattan. Bloomberg reported.
Salame is under investigation for campaign finance violations, but it remains unclear what charges he faces.
He ran FTX’s subsidiary in the Bahamas and was a known donor to Republican politicians — and will now become the fourth executive to admit criminal behavior among Bankman-Fried’s closest advisers.
This move has put legal pressure on Bankman-Fried, who has been charged with fraud over the collapse of FTX and is set to stand trial on October 3. He has pleaded not guilty.
Salame joins three of Bankman-Fried’s close colleagues Nishad Singh, Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang, who all pleaded guilty to fraud charges and agreed to conspire against him.
A former FTX executive will plead guilty to charges related to the fraud case against failed cryptocurrency exchange founder Sam Bankman-Fried
The plea likely comes less than a month before Bankman-Fried is due to face trial after being charged with orchestrating a multi-billion dollar fraud scheme.
Prosecutors have accused Bankman-Fried of misusing FTX client funds for personal expenses, high-risk betting through affiliate hedge fund Alameda Research, and political donations designed to influence crypto regulation.
Salame was part of Bankman-Fried’s inner circle, and prosecutors allege he used him and other executives as straw donors — that is, when someone illegally uses someone else’s money to make political contributions.
It remains unclear whether Salame will testify against Bankman-Fried, but prosecutors hope the plea will add another layer to the case against the failed FTX founder.
Ryan Salame, who worked as a senior executive at FTX, is expected to enter his guilty plea Thursday at a hearing in federal court in Manhattan.
The accused fraudster has been under house arrest at his parents’ home in Palo Alto, California, since his extradition in December from the Bahamas.
His $250 million bail, the most expensive in U.S. history, severely limited his internet and phone use.
Bankman-Fried is being held in the infamous MDC, which used to hold prominent individuals including R. Kelly, Ghislaine Maxwell and Martin Shkreli.
The Metropolitan Detention Center houses more than 1,600 inmates and is located near the waterfront in Sunset Park, Brooklyn.
Other inmates have been linked to high-profile drug trafficking and terrorism cases, while others are relatively anonymous New Yorkers awaiting trial.
In 2019, the prison made headlines after inmates were left without heat or power for days during a cold snap.
On Wednesday, Bankman-Fried lost an appeal seeking release from Brooklyn jail, complaining he was unable to properly prepare for his trial.
In denying Bankman-Fried’s request for release before his criminal trial, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan said it would ask the next three-judge panel available to consider it.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan revoked Bankman-Fried’s $250 million bail on Aug. 11 after finding the former billionaire likely tampered with witnesses on at least two occasions.
Bankman-Fried’s lawyers had claimed that he was put on a “meat diet” and had to make do with bread, water and peanut butter.
His legal team also complained that the crypto whiz kid, who appeared in federal court in Manhattan, was unable to prepare without proper medication.
Bankman-Fried’s lawyers argued that he needed access to computers and medicines to properly prepare.
Salame joins three of Bankman-Fried’s close colleagues Nishad Singh, Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang, who all pleaded guilty to fraud charges and agreed to conspire against him
Salame was part of Bankman-Fried’s inner circle, and prosecutors allege he used him and other executives as straw donors — that is, when someone illegally uses someone else’s money to make political contributions.
He was given access to Adderall earlier, after his lawyers told the court he would take 10mg tablets three to four times a day because of his ADHD.
Bankham-Fried also received “uninterrupted access” to his Emsam prescription for depression from Kaplan on Aug. 14.
But just eight days later, his lawyers complained that he was denied access to the drugs.
Prosecutors insisted that Bankman-Fried be jailed after sharing the personal writings of Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda and his former romantic partner, with a New York Times reporter.
Prosecutors pushed for Bankman-Fried’s jail time after he shared the personal writings of Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda and his former romantic partner, with a New York Times reporter.
Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to fraud and conspiracy charges, saying he shared Ellison’s writings to defend his reputation, not to intimidate her.
Ellison, who ran Alameda Research, a cryptocurrency trading hedge fund that was one of his businesses, is expected to testify against her former lover at the trial.
The judge said the writings were things a former romantic partner was unlikely to share with anyone “except to hurt, discredit and frighten the subject matter of the material.”
Prosecutors say the memo Ellison wrote will be used at Bankman-Fried’s trial, as will testimonies from members of his inner circle.
She described being tormented by self-doubt about her decision making, with the message being, “At the end of the day I can’t wait to go home, turn off my phone, have a drink and get away from it all. are.’
The state said it planned to use a memo it wrote after talking to him, titled “Things Sam Is Freaking Out About.”
A 70-page court document contained a wealth of financial records, political donations, and private Slack messages.
In court filings, Bankman-Fried’s lawyers said Tuesday that the arrangement to allow him several hours a day to review evidence on a laptop at Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center has proven inadequate.
They said he lost more than four hours on Friday when he had to return to his cell for a prisoner count, and that he lost more time over the weekend.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan said the prison has approved Bankman-Fried’s purchase of a second laptop.