Business
- debtFormer co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets Ryan Salameh was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison, three years of probation and fined more than $11 million.
- Salameh had pleaded guilty to charges of making illegal political contributions and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business.
Federal prosecutors have announced that former FTX executive Ryan Salameh has been sentenced to seven and a half years in prison and fined more than $11 million (A$16.5 million) for questionable political manipulation carried out on behalf of his disgraced boss Sam Bankman Freed. Announced this week.
Salameh pleaded guilty in September 2023 to conspiracy to make illegal political contributions and operating an unlicensed money transmitting business after the FBI raided his Maryland home in April 2023.
This latest fallout from the 2022 collapse of the FTX exchange comes after SBF was high-profilely sentenced to 25 years in prison for various fraud charges in March 2024. Salameh is the first of four FTX executives, aside from SBF, to be held accountable; Nishad Singh, Gary Wang and Caroline Ellison also pleaded guilty to financial crimes.
Related: FTX Compensation Plan Offers 118% Cashback to Victims Over Initial Losses
In 2021, Salameh became co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets, the exchange’s Bahamas-based affiliate. I blew the whistle He released a report on illegal fund transfers between FTX and Alameda Research, becoming the first FTX executive to cooperate with a authorities investigation.
Salameh plotted to gain political influence
U.S. Attorney Damien Williams said Salameh conspired with SBF and FTX executive Nishad Singh in 2020 to secure the support of politicians who could help pass pro-cryptocurrency legislation through more than 300 campaign contributions worth tens of millions of dollars.
The contributions were illegal because they concealed SBF’s involvement and were paid with corporate funds, effectively defrauding the Federal Election Commission.
Mr. Salameh’s two serious federal crimes undermined public confidence in the integrity of our elections and financial systems, and today’s sentence underscores the severe consequences of such crimes.
U.S. Attorney Damien Williams
In addition to the seven-and-a-half-year prison sentence, Salameh was sentenced to three years of probation and fined $11 million, including $6 million in forfeiture and more than $5 million in restitution.
Salameh took to social media site X for the first time since 2022 to post a series of bizarre tweets and sarcastic replies to other users. He was widely slammed for his embarrassing exchange with X user Hirsch (@tittyrespecter), in which he expresses complete ignorance that FTX client funds had “somehow disappeared” before debating the reasons for his comments.
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“Former FTX executive Ryan Salameh has been sentenced to seven and a half years in prison and fined more than US$11 million (AUD$16.5 million) for a shady political operation carried out on behalf of his disgraced boss Sam Bankman Freed. U.S. federal…”
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Source link: https://cryptonews.com.au/news/ftx-executive-ryan-salame-sentenced-to-7-5-years-in-prison-and-fined-11-million-121212/
