Sam Bankman-Fried, a troubled cryptocurrency CEO, filed a not-guilty plea to five more charges relating to the failure of his former crypto exchange FTX and hedge fund Alameda Research on Thursday.
The third wave of counts from a superseding indictment that was unsealed on Tuesday in the Southern District of New York comprise the additional charges in federal court in New York. According to the prosecution, Bankman-Fried ordered the transfer of at least $40 million in cryptocurrencies to one or more representatives of the Chinese government in order to unlock trading accounts connected to Alameda Research.
The scandal-plagued millionaire has already pleaded not guilty to charges involving bank fraud, running an unregistered money-transfer operation, and making illegal political contributions.
The disgraced millionaire had already entered not-guilty pleas to allegations of bank fraud, running an unregistered money-transfer operation, and making illegal political payments.
Attorney Mark Cohen for Bankman-Fried stated that his client was contesting the accusations as well as the legitimacy of the government’s ability to file some of the counts against him. If a defendant is extradited to the United States following the filing of the initial indictment, prosecutors may occasionally be restricted in their ability to pursue additional charges.
From FTX’s home base in the Bahamas, Bankman-Fried was brought to the US.
Initially, eight counts against Bankman-Fried were brought against him, including fraud, money laundering, and breaking campaign finance laws. He consented to be extradited to the US from the Bahamas in December. On Jan. 3, he entered a not guilty plea to the initial accusations.
Prosecutors announced a new indictment last month that included claims of securities fraud, wire fraud, bank fraud, and unauthorized campaign contributions. A straw donor or corporate funds were reportedly used by Bankman-Fried and his accomplices to donate tens of millions of dollars to political campaigns.
