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联邦检察官在对FTX创始人萨姆-班克曼-弗里德（Sam Bankman-Fried）提出的越来越多的犯罪指控中增加了一项外国贿赂指控。这项指控是根据《反海外腐败商业行为法》提出的，是对班克曼-弗里德已经面临的证券欺诈、洗钱和违反竞选财务法行为的补充。据称，他指示为他工作的人向中国官员支付4000万美元的贿赂，以解冻Alameda的交易账户，该账户持有约10亿美元的加密货币。
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起诉书说，贿赂金是以加密货币支付的，并成功地使交易账户被解冻。班克曼-弗里德被指控挪用数十亿美元的客户存款供其个人使用，以及弥补阿拉米达公司的损失。班克曼-弗里德的高级副手之一卡罗琳-埃里森已经认罪，并与当局合作。
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当局表示，在2021年初，中国官员冻结了在中国两个最大的加密货币交易所持有的账户中的资金。班克曼-弗里德的行贿计划是在其他解冻资金的尝试（如聘请律师游说中国官员和创建虚假账户）未果后制定的。指控文件没有指明中国官员或协助Bankman-Fried行贿的员工。
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Federal prosecutors have added a foreign bribery charge to the growing list of crimes already pending against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried. The charge was brought under the Foreign Corrupt Business Practices Act and is in addition to the securities fraud, money laundering and campaign finance law violations that Bankman-Fried is already facing. He allegedly instructed those working for him to pay a $40 million bribe to Chinese officials to unfreeze Alameda’s trading accounts, which held about $1 billion in cryptocurrency.
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The indictment said that the bribe money was paid in cryptocurrency, and was successful in getting the trading accounts unfrozen. Bankman-Fried is accused of misappropriating billions of dollars in customer deposits for his own personal use, as well as to make up for losses incurred by Alameda. Caroline Ellison, one of Bankman-Fried’s top lieutenants, has already pleaded guilty and is cooperating with the authorities.
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The authorities said that in early 2021, Chinese officials froze the money in the accounts held in two of China’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges. Bankman-Fried’s plan to pay bribes was put in place after other attempts to unfreeze the money, such as hiring lawyers to lobby Chinese officials and creating fraudulent accounts, were unsuccessful. The charging document does not identify the Chinese officials or the employees who assisted Bankman-Fried in paying the bribe.