Disgraced former crypto tycoon Sam Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty on Thursday to five additional federal charges in Manhattan, New York.
He pleaded not guilty to charges such as conspiracy to commit bank fraud and conspiring to bribe Chinese government officials, per Politico. Federal prosecutors indicted Bankman-Fried on Tuesday, alleging he sent Chinese officials $40 million worth of cryptocurrency to unfreeze accounts belonging to his hedge fund, Alameda Research. The new charge brought his total to 13 criminal counts. (RELATED:Top Exec At Sam Bankman-Fried’s Crypto Exchange Pleads Guilty To Fraud)
FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried pleads not guilty to new U.S. charges.
— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) March 30, 2023
Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty in January to eight fraud charges related to alleged misuse of customer funds at FTX, his now-bankrupt crypto exchange, and Alameda Research. Prosecutors added four new charges with a superseding indictment in February. The new charges included conspiracy to commit bank fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to make unlawful political contributions and defraud the Federal Election Commission (FEC).
FTX and its U.S. operation were valued at a combined $40 billion in Jan. 2022. The exchange went bankrupt in November 2022 after reports alleging customer funds were misused.
Bankman-Fried was released from custody on a $250 million bond in December and ordered to stay in his parents’ Palo Alto, California house in December. His criminal trial is scheduled to begin in October.