Conspiracy to defraud the U.S., wire and securities fraud, money laundering

Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York unsealed charges against disgraced FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried, charging him with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and securities fraud, standalone charges of securities fraud and wire fraud, money laundering, and significantly, conspiracy to defraud the United States and campaign finance regulations.

The eight charges form the bedrock of the attempt by U.S. prosecutors to pursue Bankman-Fried for his alleged crimes.

Federal prosecutors say that Bankman-Fried had been engaging in criminal activity as far back as 2019.

Multiple conspiracy counts on charges of wire fraud, securities fraud, commodities fraud, and money laundering were filed against the former billionaire.

Bankman-Fried deliberately and knowingly “agreed with others to defraud customers of FTX.com by misappropriating those customers’ deposits and using those deposits to pay expenses and debts of Alameda Research,” the indictment read.

The indictment said Bankman-Fried also conspired with others to defraud FTX’s lenders “by providing false and misleading information to those lenders regarding Alameda Research’s financial condition.”

Bankman-Fried’s arrest took the public and lawmakers by surprise. The accelerated timeline suggests prosecutors have a high level of confidence at securing a conviction, a legal expert told CNBC.

From 2020 prosecutors allege the FTX founder had been conspiring to defraud the federal government by making illegal donations to political candidates, using the names of other persons to mask and augment political giving.

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