He used to be the darling of the crypto industry, but in the meantime he is behind bars in the Bahamas and may face a hefty prison sentence. The former CEO of ftxSam Bankman-Fried (SBF), by US authorities charged with fraud and a host of other criminal offenses. Now it appears that political donations he made to Democrats in the United States are also being scrutinized by prosecutors in the country.
Shady political crypto donations
Prosecutors currently leading a criminal investigation into SBF have reportedly reached out to some Democratic congressmen. They were looking for information about donations SBF had made to them in the past, that reports the New York Times. Several members of Congress have received emails from the New York District Attorney.
SBF has donated many millions to the Democratic party in the past. In 2020, for example, he sent about $ 5.2 million to Joe Biden’s presidential campaign. According to reports, SBF was said to be one of the Democratic’s largest donors at the time. In the period from 2021 to 2022, he has a total of $39.8 million donatedof which 92% ended up with the Democratic party and 8% with the Republicans.
Members of Congress return the money
Yesterday, as a result of the investigation into SBF’s donations, a number of congressmen have already refunded the money they received. In total, this amounts to more than $1 million. A spokesman for the Democratic party confirmed this at The Verge:
“Given the allegations surrounding potential campaign finance violations by Bankman-Fried, we are setting aside funds to return the $815,000 in contributions since 2020. We will return as soon as we get the right direction in the legal process.”
In the US there are quite strict rules regarding campaign finance. If SBF has indeed violated these rules, this violation can be added to the pile of other allegations that he is already accused of. Elon Musk also stated at the beginning of this month all questions about the millions SBF had donated to the Democrats.