The Department of ‘Justice’ has dismissed the campaign finance charge against crypto figure Sam Bankman-Fried, accused of involvement in a scam.
This incident highlights the potential protection offered by close connections with the Washington establishment.
Despite facing charges of campaign finance violations and fraud following the FTX collapse last December, SBF seems to be escaping consequences.
This left people questioning the integrity of the ‘justice’ system.
Last December, Mr. Bankman-Fried was charged with fraud and campaign finance violations after the sudden collapse of his company, the cryptocurrency exchange FTX. He was quickly extradited to the United States from the Bahamas, where FTX was based.
The removal of the campaign finance charge is a victory for Mr. Bankman-Fried’s legal team, which had argued that the United States mishandled the extradition process. And it follows the prosecution’s decision in June to proceed to a trial in October without pursuing five other charges that were added to Mr. Bankman-Fried’s indictment in the weeks following his extradition.
Authorities have said that Mr. Bankman-Fried and others at FTX used customer deposits to make $90 million in campaign contributions to some 300 political candidates or political action committees. Months ago, prosecutors and bankruptcy lawyers for FTX began asking recipients of those donations to return them.
Prosecutors are planning a second trial on the five charges that were withdrawn in June, including an accusation that Mr. Bankman-Fried bribed a foreign government. They said they were forced to postpone a trial on those counts while litigation over the extradition unfolds in the Bahamas.
If convicted on the securities fraud and wire fraud charges, Mr. Bankman-Fried faces the prospect of being sentenced to dozens of years in prison.
