Sam Bankman-Fried Faces More Charges

Federal prosecutors filed more criminal charges against Sam Bankman-Fried, who is already accused of stealing billions from investors and customers of the collapsed FTX cryptocurrency exchange, which he co-founded and where he served as CEO until its bankruptcy last November.

In a superseding indictment filed with the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, Department of Justice attorneys added four counts to the eight previously made against Bankman-Fried for fraud, money laundering, and campaign finance violations. The new charges include operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, bank fraud, securities fraud, and fraud involving derivatives.

Officials said Bankman-Fried, known as SBF, took funds from FTX to enrich himself and help prop up FTX and its associated crypto investment firm, Alameda Research. The alleged scheme was exposed when a rush of withdrawals from FTX created a liquidity crisis, leading to the firm's bankruptcy and Bankman-Fried's removal as CEO. His replacement called what occurred at FTX "old-fashioned embezzlement."

October Trial Date

Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to the original charges and is currently free on $250 million bond. His trial is set to begin on Oct. 2. He'll be arraigned on what's been added in the new indictment at a future date. 

FTX's other co-founder, Gary Wang, and Caroline Ellison, who was co-CEO of Alameda, both pleaded guilty to related fraud charges and agreed to testify against Bankman-Fried.