US bids to seize banker-free crypto allegedly used in Chinese bribery
US prosecutors have sought court authorization to seize crypto to seize bribes paid to Chinese officials by FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried.
In an indictment filed in New York District Court on November 12, prosecutors allege that Binance's account – in As of Dec. 12, 2023, it was worth $8.6 million, but jumped to $18.5 million due to market volatility. Cryptocurrency used for bribes before FTX crashes in late 2022.
According to the indictment, in 2021, Chinese law enforcement suspended two accounts of Alameda Research, which held $1 billion in crypto on Chinese crypto exchanges.
In the year November 16, 2021 Bankman-Fried alleges that he sent a $40 million Tether (USDT) bribe to a private wallet and that Alameda's accounts were not suspended shortly after.
Bankman-Fried allegedly paid $40 million in bribes to Chinese officials to release accounts holding $1 billion in crypto. Source: CourtListener
“After it was confirmed that the accounts were not frozen, Banman-Fried allowed the payment of tens of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency to complete the bribery,” prosecutors said.
U.S. authorities say they want access to five deposit accounts linked to Bankman Freed's bank accounts that were used to hide or conceal bribes.
According to prosecutors, the account had a regular “inflow of deposits and withdrawals,” while the five wallets received “almost daily” Bitcoin (BTC) and stablecoin deposits, which were then converted to other cryptocurrencies.
Former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison testified that the total bribes paid were about $150 million.
On December 21, 2023, the bill was reserved at the Bankman-Fried hearing by order of Judge Lewis Kaplan.
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Prosecutors said the account still holds Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA), XRP (XRP), Internet Computer (IC) and Avalanche (AVAX).
In the year Following the collapse of FTX in 2022, Banman-Fried was put on trial and charged with seven counts of criminal mischief. On March 28, Judge Kaplan sentenced him to 25 years in prison.
He was initially charged with bank fraud and bribery of Chinese officials, but six additional charges, including bank fraud and foreign bribery, were dismissed.
On September 13, Bankuman-Fried's lawyers filed an appeal, claiming that the FTX founder was unfairly treated at trial.
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