WASHINGTON (Reuters), May 28: According to U.S. federal prosecutors, Ryan Salame, a top aide to the founder of the defunct cryptocurrency exchange, Sam Bankman-Fried, and the former co-CEO of FTX’s Bahamian subsidiary, was sentenced to 90 months in jail on Tuesday.
In September, Salame entered a guilty plea to the charge of stealing millions of dollars from illegal campaign contributions to further the causes his boss believed in. His prison term exceeded the five to seven years that the prosecution had requested. The prosecution claims that Salame, Bankman-Fried, and former FTX engineering chief Nishad Singh contributed to political politicians who supported legislation favourable to cryptocurrencies using FTX consumer money. Salame’s attorneys have made an effort to dissociate Salame from the FTX scam. Prior to the punishment, they stated in a filing earlier in May that “he was duped, as was everyone else, into believing that the companies were legitimate, solvent, and wildly profitable.” Salame, 30, was forced to pay more than $5 million in restitution and more than $6 million in forfeiture in addition to his prison sentence, authorities said in a statement on Tuesday. He was also sentenced to three years of supervised release.
ANGENTA
Bankman-Fried received a sentence earlier this year that raises the door to a 25-year prison term for his $8 billion theft from FTX clients. In November, a jury convicted him on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy related to the collapse of FTX in 2022, which the prosecution described as one of the largest financial scams in American history.
KEY FACTS
U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams stated, “Salame’s involvement in two serious federal crimes undermined public trust in American elections and the integrity of the financial system.” He had entered a guilty plea to one count each of conspiring to operate an unauthorized money transmission business and to make illegal political contributions.
Based on Federal Election Commission data, Salame contributed almost $24 million to Republican candidates and causes in the 2022 election cycle, ranking among the top donors of that year. According to Kaplan, Salame “knew precisely what he was doing,” and keeping it a secret from the public was the whole point. Incredible.
Kaplan remarked, “You attempted to withdraw tens of millions more.”I did it first. I will board the lifeboat first. Forget about all those clients.
While acknowledging that he and others had the best intentions, Salame apologized to the FTX consumers and his family and said, “I fully understand that the means I sought to achieve these goals were illegal.” A few brief words prior to receiving his sentence, Salame stated that he was “beginning my path to redemption.”He said, “I accept what comes next.”
When Forbes asked for comment, Jason Linder, one of Salame’s attorneys, did not immediately respond.
Three other high-ranking FTX executives, Caroline Ellison, the CEO of FTX hedge fund Alameda Research; Gary Wang, FTX’s co-founder; and Nishad Singh, FTX’s head of engineering, are awaiting imprisonment for their roles in the collapse of the exchange. In exchange for possible suspended prison terms, all three worked with the prosecution and testified against Bankman-Fried during the trial.
Key Background
Millions of people used FTX, one of the biggest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world before it collapsed, to purchase and trade cryptocurrencies, making Bankman-Fried a household name in the business world. After a trial in which it was revealed that he had utilized his clients’ money to purchase real estate, give to political campaigns, and make other investments, A New York jury found him guilty of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering last year.
