A former FTX cryptocurrency exchange executive during testimony on Monday detailed accused fraudster and Democratic megadonor Sam Bankman-Fried’s alleged campaign finance violations and said recipients were aware of them.
Bankman-Fried allegedly had FTX Director of Engineering Nishad Singh make contributions to Democrats in his name for reasons relating to “optics,” the former executive testified. Recipients were allegedly aware the contributions were from someone else other than Singh, he claimed, according to a trial transcript posted by Inner City Press. (RELATED: Parents Of Sam Bankman-Fried Accused Of Using Son’s Company To Enrich Themselves, Dem Political Org)
AUSA: Where did these funds come from?
Singh: Alameda sent me FTX customers’ funds.
AUSA: Why were they made in your name?
Singh: Optics. End recipients knew they were actually coming from someone else.
[So the recipients violated FEC laws? – more on this coming— Inner City Press (@innercitypress) October 16, 2023
The money for the political donations made in Singh’s name came from FTX’s sister hedge fund Alameda research, he testified. FTX sued Bankman-Fried’s parents for allegedly enriching themselves and using their influence to fund a Democrat-aligned political action committee, according to a September lawsuit. It alleges that Bankman-Fried’s mom Barbara Fried illegally funded her political action committee (PAC), Mind the Gap (MTG).
Fried co-founded and previously ran the PAC as president and chairwoman, according to the filing. Because of worries about the “optics” of Bankman-Fried giving to MTG, she allegedly advised Singh to make the contributions instead of her son.
Bankman-Fried allegedly masterminded a scheme to divert billions of dollars from customers’ FTX deposits to finance campaign contributions, donations to charities and real estate acquisitions before its collapse, according to The New York Times.
He gave close to $40 million to support Democrat-aligned causes, and was the second-largest individual contributor to them during the 2022 midterm election cycle, according to The Washington Post’s analysis of Federal Election Commission data. The alleged fraudster used “billions of dollars in stolen funds for a variety of purposes, including … to help fund over a hundred million dollars in campaign contributions to Democrats and Republicans to seek to influence cryptocurrency regulation,” according to the superseding indictment against him.
Bankman-Fried’s attorney did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
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