FTX founder Bankman-Fried faces new fraud charges in rewritten indictment

NEW YORK — FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried faces new fraud charges, as prosecutors accuse him of cheating thousands of investors out of billions of dollars while casting himself as a trustworthy “savior of the cryptocurrency industry” — an image boosted by celebrity-studded Super Bowl advertising and big donations to political figures.

Four new charges, including securities fraud and conspiracy fraud counts, are unveiled today with the unsealing of the refreshed indictment in Manhattan federal court that was returned yesterday.

In a statement, US Attorney Damian Williams hints, as he has several times previously, that prosecutors aren’t finished building their case.

“We are hard at work and will remain so until justice is done,” he says.

A spokesperson for Bankman-Fried declines to comment.

The new charges raised the prison sentence Bankman-Fried could face if convicted from 115 years to 155 years, authorities say.

The new charges raise the number of counts in the indictment to 12, as prosecutors more thoroughly and eloquently tell their story of what happened to FTX, Bankman-Fried’s global cryptocurrency exchange, and its affiliated cryptocurrency trading hedge fund, Alameda Research.

The description casts FTX customers, investors, financial institutions, lenders and the Federal Election Commission as victims of fraudulent schemes Bankman-Fried allegedly carried out from 2019 until last November.

Prosecutors say Bankman-Fried stole billions of dollars in FTX customer deposits to support the operations and investments of FTX and Alameda and to fund speculative venture investments, make charitable donations and spend tens of millions of dollars on illegal campaign donations to Democrats and Republicans in an attempt to buy influence over cryptocurrency regulation in Washington.

They say Bankman-Fried cast himself as a “figurehead of a trustworthy and law-abiding segment of the cryptocurrency industry” that sought to protect investors and clients.

“As recently as late 2022, Bankman-Fried boasted about FTX’s profits and portrayed himself as a savior of the cryptocurrency industry, making venture investments and acquisitions purportedly to assist struggling industry participants,” the new indictment says.