Disgraced crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried pressured a straw donor to support “woke shit for transactional purposes,” according to a superseding indictment released Thursday.
Federal prosecutors charged Bankman-Fried with four counts of fraud and eight counts of conspiracy, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, making unlawful political contributions and defrauding the Federal Election Commission (FEC). The new charges will replace the eight counts of fraud and conspiracy brought by prosecutors against Bankman-Fried in December.
An SBF political consultant asked NISHAD SINGH to make the contribution to @VictoryFund & told him, “in general, you being the center left face of our spending will mean you giving to a lot of woke shit for transactional purposes,” according to prosecutors https://t.co/AoEEzcetiq
— Kenneth P. Vogel (@kenvogel) February 23, 2023
He allegedly used “straw donors” to evade campaign contribution limits and further his political agenda by influencing Congress to pass legislation favorable to the crypto industry. Bankman-Fried’s political consultant told one of his purported straw donors “in general, you being the center left face of our spending will mean you giving to a lot of woke shit for transactional purposes,” according to the superseding indictment.
The alleged left-leaning straw donor became one of the largest Democratic party donors in the 2022 midterms and made contributions they would not have otherwise, per the indictment. (RELATED: Alleged Fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried Hit With New Criminal Charges For Political Donations)
Nishad Singh, a former executive at Bankman-Fried’s crypto exchange FTX, gave more than $8 million to Democrats and affiliated groups in the 2022 midterm cycle, according to watchdog group OpenSecrets. Singh was allegedly known as a “Bankman-Fried guy” and made many of the same contributions as Bankman-Fried, CNBC reported in December 2022, citing an anonymous source.
The donations listed under Singh’s name include a $1 million donation to Mind the Gap, a Super-PAC founded by Bankman-Fried’s mother Barbara and the largest contribution the PAC has ever been given, according to CNBC. Singh reportedly plans to plead guilty to fraud charges and cooperate with federal prosecutors in their case against Bankman-Fried, alongside his other former business partners.
Bankman-Fried donated nearly $39 million to Democrats in the 2022 midterms, making him one of the party’s top 10 donors. He also provided small contributions to Republican campaigns and affiliated organizations.
FTX declared bankruptcy shortly after accusations of misusing customer funds came to light in November 2022. The firm was given a $40 billion valuation as recently as January 2022.
Bankman-Fried’s net worth is an estimated $4 million, down from a peak of $26.5 billion, Forbes Magazine measured. He told Axios in late November 2022 he had less than $100,000 left in his bank account.