According to an unsealed indictment, Michelle Bond, a partner of former FTX executive Ryan Salame, is accused of violating U.S. campaign finance laws.
Former congressional candidate Michelle Bond, who ran unsuccessfully for a seat in the New York House of Representatives in 2022, has been accused of financing her campaign from a cryptocurrency exchange in the Bahamas.
According to documents released Aug. 22, Damien Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, alleged that Bond funneled at least $400,000 in illegal funds to her candidacy through “numerical consulting arrangements.”
Bond was already associated with Salameh at the time, working for the FTX cryptocurrency exchange. The Bahamas-based company, founded by incarcerated crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried, has been charged with similar election law violations.
Federal prosecutors allege that Bond admitted at a trade group board meeting that the exchange had played a role in funding her campaign. FBI Acting Deputy Director Chrystia M. Curtis added that Bond deliberately misled Congress about the source of the money and used other tactics to cover her tracks.
FTX’s Salameh, Long-Term Litigation
The unsealing of Bond’s case comes shortly after Salame accused the government of reneging on a plea deal. According to Salame, the deal included his guilty plea and a promise to drop all investigations into Bond.
Salameh pleaded guilty to conspiracy at Bankman-Fried’s trial in September 2023 and was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison. He now plans to challenge his sentence or ask for the charges against him to be dismissed.
Ped, Salame’s accusations
In response, prosecutors called Salameh’s post-sentencing social media posts a “complete lack of remorse” for the American legal complex.
Salameh posted tweets accusing FTX executives Caroline Ellison and Nishad Singh of lying to secure a better plea deal from the government. On August 21, prosecutors highlighted these posts and said he showed no remorse for his actions.