U.S. prosecutors said in a recent court filing that they did not violate a plea agreement with former FTX executive Ryan Salameh and made no commitments about future prosecutions of his partner, Michelle Bond.
salami accused Last month, the government asked a New York court to dismiss Bond’s campaign finance charges or, if not, vacate his conviction, citing allegations of wrongdoing.
Salame, previously co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets, claimed: I feel guilty In September, he was indicted on charges of conspiring to make illegal political donations and conspiring to operate an unlicensed money transfer business. I was sentenced He was sentenced to seven years and six months in prison and was due to appear for sentencing on August 29, but his lawyers asked that date be postponed to October 13 so he could undergo emergency surgery. dog attackIt has been approved.
Bond later Charged Last month, she was accused of using “illegally obtained funds” to fund her 2022 U.S. House of Representatives bid in New York.
Salameh previously said prosecutors used the plea bargain to “intimidate” his partner and the mother of his eight-month-old child, adding that he only pleaded guilty after the government promised to drop its investigation into Bond.
Prosecutors said Thursday they repeatedly made it clear to Salameh’s lawyers that his guilty plea would not halt the ongoing investigation into Bond.
“Salameh’s assertion that the government breached the plea agreement is factually and legally incorrect,” prosecutors said in a court filing Thursday. “Indeed, the order of events demonstrates that not only was the plea agreement not intended to include a commitment to investigate Bond, but that the plea agreement was consistent with the parties’ arguments in their defense. The government made clear in advance of the plea agreement that it would treat Salameh, Bond, and the government’s investigations into each separately, and that any disposition of Salameh would not close the Bond investigation.”
According to a note written by prosecutors in April 2023, the documents also detailed Salameh’s alleged misconduct while at FTX. Prosecutors said Salameh used the personal identifying information of people he “identified as Thai prostitutes” to open accounts on the exchange. Prosecutors also said Salameh “supervised efforts to bribe immigration authorities.”
Prosecutors argued that Salameh failed to present his case before sentencing.
“Despite being fully aware prior to sentencing that the Bond investigation was ongoing and despite the fact that he could have sought relief before sentencing, Salameh did not raise the present argument before sentencing, nor did he raise it at sentencing, before he knew what his sentence would be,” according to the filing. “And he did not appeal at all, much less argue that the government breached its plea agreement or that his plea was ignorant and involuntary.”
Salameh’s attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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