LONDONBywire News) – Three major Democratic Party Campaign groups have declared their intention to return more than $1.1million in donations from jailed crypto tycoon Sam Bankman-Fried. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) said it would be keeping back $815,000 due to “potential campaign finance violations” attributed to Bankman-Fried. The Democratic Senate Campaign Committee declared that it would set aside $103,000, while the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which manages the party’s House Campaign finances, plans to hold back $250,000. All three groups are waiting for direction on how to use the funds resulting from the current court case.
Bankman-FriedFTX founder – was arrested in the Bahamas this week, accused of misappropriating billions and violating campaign finance laws. This is being described as one of the biggest financial frauds in history. U.S. prosecutors allege that Bankman-Fried was part of a scheme to defraud FTX clients by misusing deposits for expenses and loans, as well as making investments on behalf of his crypto hedge fund, Alameda Research LLC.
Federal Election Commission records show that Bankman-Fried, whose net worth is estimated at over $20 billion, was one of the biggest political donors during the midterm election cycle. He gave an estimated $40 million to groups or campaigns closely associated with the Democratic Party. However, in an interview with freelance journalist Tiffany Fong, Bankman-Fried said his donations were split equally between the Republicans and the Democrats. He also admitted that it was impossible to publicly disclose his outlays, a practice referred to as “dark money”. Bankman-Fried, who is still in custody in the Bahamas, has apologized to his clients but still maintains his innocence.
By Gram Slattery
(Reporting By Gram Slattery In Washington; Editing By Scott Malone, Michael O’Sullivan Matthew Lewis)
