Dec. 30 (UPI) — Convicted felon Sam Bankman-Fried won’t face an additional federal trial accusing him of making illegal campaign contributions and five other federal charges, prosecutors say.
Department of Justice officials notified U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in a letter Friday they won’t pursue a second trial against Bankman-Fried, 31, for allegedly making illegal political campaign contributions and other federal charges.
A jury in November found Bankman-Fried guilty on seven fraud-related charges related to his involvement in the downfall of his once high-flying FTX cryptocurrency exchange.
“Much of the evidence that would be offered in a second trial was already offered in the first trial and can be considered by the court at the defendant’s March 2024 sentencing,” prosecutors said in the letter to Kaplan.
During the federal trial, the DOJ provided evidence of Bankman-Fried’s “scheme to make unlawful campaign contributions,” they said, but have decided to forego another prosecution given “the strong public interest in a prompt resolution of this matter.”
A federal grand jury on Dec. 9, 2022, indicted Bankman-Fried for two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and two counts of wire fraud. The grand jury also returned indictments for conspiracy to commit commodities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
A separate federal grand jury in March indicted him on five additional counts for conspiracy to bribe foreign officials, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business. The grand jury also indicted him on charges of securities fraud and commodities fraud.
The additional charges required the cooperation of the government of The Bahamas, which declined to waive a rule of specialty to enable the prosecution of the additional charges against Bankman-Fried.
Unable to pursue the additional charges without the Bahamas’ waiver, Williams said the evidence can still be considered during Bankman-Fried’s sentencing hearing on March 28.
During the trial, federal prosecutors provided evidence from witnesses and documents purporting to detail a conspiracy to bribe Chinese officials and make false statements to a U.S. bank so Bankman-Fried could open an account through which he would further his “other fraudulent schemes.”
Those alleged schemes include conspiring to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business and committing securities and commodities fraud.
Bankman-Fried was referred to as the “King of Crypto” as the leader of the global cryptocurrency firm FTX Trading, which he founded in 2019. FTX had a maximum worth of about $32 billion but filed for bankruptcy after its sudden collapse in November 2022.
A subsequent investigation showed FTX mishandled about $8 billion in investor money. Federal prosecutors said the missing money funded Bankman-Fried’s lifestyle, real estate purchases, and attempts at political corruption via unlawful campaign contributions.