Former FTX Co-CEO Ryan Salame’s legal journey takes a turn as he prepares to plead guilty to charges.
Ryan Salame, the former co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets, is said to be planning to enter a guilty plea to criminal charges stemming from his alleged involvement in illegal activity at the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange.
Salame expects to plead guilty to a variety of offenses during a scheduled court appearance, according to a Sept. 7 Bloomberg article citing “people familiar with the case.” His guilty plea would make him one of many former FTX executives to do so following the exchange’s demise in November 2022.
According to court documents from the Bahamas, Salame was one of the first FTX insiders to inform authorities about the commingling of assets between Alameda Research and the crypto exchange. Caroline Ellison, former CEO of Alameda, and Gary Wang, co-founder of FTX, pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges in December 2022. Nishad Singh, FTX’s former engineering director, pled guilty to similar charges in February 2023.
Prior to the company’s bankruptcy, FTX Digital Markets was FTX’s subsidiary in the Bahamas, where several of the executives, including former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, were headquartered. Bankman-Fried has pled not guilty to 12 criminal accusations, which he will face in two separate trials beginning on October 2, 2023, and March 11, 2024.
At the time of publication, it was unclear what charges Salame might face as a result of his alleged role in FTX fraud, but previous reports suggested prosecutors were investigating him for campaign finance violations related to contributions to his girlfriend, Michelle Bond’s, 2022 congressional campaign.
Image: BBC
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