U.S. Government Seeks Crypto in Connection With SBF’s Bribes to Chinese Officials

U.S. officials filed a forfeiture complaint on Tuesday to recover crypto assets tied to disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s alleged $40 million bribe to Chinese officials, which sought to release funds from Alameda Research.

U.S. Seeks Crypto Tied to Sam Bankman-Fried’s Bribes

The lawsuit reveals that Sam Bankman-Fried transferred $40 million in Tether to Chinese officials in an effort to have two accounts belonging to Alameda Research, an FTX sister company, unfrozen in 2021.

🇺🇸 The U.S. government wants to seize an $18.5 million Binance account that is linked to Sam Bankman-Fried's bribes to Chinese officials, according to an investigation. https://t.co/yTYLylBIqi

— GN Crypto (@GNcrypto_news) November 13, 2024

Shortly after Sam Bankman-Fried transferred the funds, the accounts of Alameda Research were unlocked.

The account involved in the bribes contained $8.6 million in 2023 but surged to $18.5 million in value over the following year.

Bankman-Fried and His Associates Face Legal Consequences

Sam Bankman-Fried is serving a 25-year sentence for orchestrating the crypto scheme and has been ordered to pay $11 billion in restitution.

Several of his former associates, including former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison, FTX director of engineering Nishad Singh, and FTX chief technology officer Gary Wang, testified against him during his landmark trial in November 2023.

Ellison began her two-year sentence in federal prison earlier this month and has also been ordered to pay $11 billion in restitution.

Meanwhile, Singh managed to avoid prison time but will still have to pay the $11 billion fine and complete three years of supervised release.

Wang is slated to be sentenced at Manhattan federal courthouse on November 20.

News of the lawsuit comes alongside reports that Girls creator Lena Dunham is writing a script about the notorious crypto scammer for Apple Studios and A24, based on author Michael Lewis’ October 2023 book Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon.”

Lena Dunham Writing Movie About FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried for Apple, A24 https://t.co/Np0p8HwLKZ

— The Hollywood Reporter (@THR) November 12, 2024

Lewis notably received flack from members of the crypto community for his sympathetic portrayal of Bankman-Fried, with lawyers for the FTX founder having attempted to use parts of the “Moneyball” author’s book in defense of the crypto con artist.

Despite the development of the FTX film, it is still unclear how Bankman-Fried will be portrayed.