ChainCatcher News: A complaint made public on August 22 by the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York reveals that Michelle Bond, the partner of former FTX Digital Markets co-CEO Ryan Salame, has been charged with violating campaign finance laws.Prosecutors allege that Bond, along with an unnamed co-conspirator, illegally provided funds for her 2022 campaign for the U.S. House of Representatives. The indictment states that this co-conspirator may refer to Salame, who arranged a payment of $400,000. Bond is charged with conspiracy to cause illegal campaign contributions, causing and accepting excessive campaign contributions, causing and accepting illegal corporate contributions, and causing and accepting conduit contributions. The prosecution also alleges that she made false statements to the Federal Election Commission and congressional committees to cover up her and her co-conspirator's actions.Notably, Salame had previously pleaded guilty in September 2023 and was sentenced to 7.5 years in prison, scheduled to report on October 13, and his attorney recently filed a motion to withdraw the guilty plea.

ChainCatcher news, in a report on July 31, renowned cryptocurrency skeptic Molly White claimed that Coinbase donated to the Fairshake crypto super PAC while actively negotiating contracts with the federal government, seemingly violating campaign finance laws.Coinbase's Chief Legal Officer Paul Grewal called these allegations "misinformation." He stated that under the "literal language" provision of Federal Regulation Code 111.51, Coinbase is not a federal contractor and is therefore exempt from certain campaign finance regulations.

ChainCatcher news, according to sources from The Wall Street Journal, Manhattan federal prosecutors are investigating whether former FTX executive Ryan Salame and his girlfriend, former congressional candidate Michelle Bond, may have violated campaign finance laws. One source indicated that investigators are looking into whether the two illegally circumvented federal limits on contributions to Bond's 2022 campaign for the Republican primary in New York's 1st congressional district, specifically examining the funds Salame provided to Bond and the loans she made for the campaign. This investigation is separate from the case against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried. (Source link)

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, FTX's former engineering director and SBF's roommate Nishad Singh is in talks with prosecutors during a "proffer meeting" and may provide evidence of SBF's violations of campaign finance laws in hopes of receiving a lighter sentence. Such meetings typically include offering "limited immunity" to encourage interviewees to speak freely. Previously, FTX executives Gary Wang and Caroline Ellison met with federal prosecutors to reach a deal.According to Bloomberg, citing informed sources, Singh possesses a wealth of information regarding FTX and SBF's political donations. Since 2020, Singh has personally donated over $9.3 million to Democratic-aligned initiatives. In April 2021, Singh donated $1 million to the political action committee Mind The Gap, founded by SBF's mother. According to a court document from last November, Singh received a $543 million loan from Alameda Research.According to ChainCatcher previously reported, Twitter users claim that the FBI may have initiated a manhunt for former Alameda co-CEO Sam Trabucco and FTX engineering director Nishad Singh. (CoinDesk)