U.S. officials filed a forfeiture petition on Tuesday to recover virtual assets linked to an alleged $40 million bribe that disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried gave to Chinese officials, with the aim of releasing funds from Alameda Research.
The lawsuit reveals that Sam Bankman-Fried transferred $40 million in Tether to Chinese officials to unfreeze two accounts belonging to Alameda Research, a sister company of FTX, in 2021. Shortly after Sam Bankman-Fried transferred the funds, Alameda Research’s accounts were unblocked.
The bribe account contained $8.6 million in 2023, but grew to $18.5 million over the next year. Bankman-Fried himself is serving a 25-year sentence for orchestrating the cryptocurrency scam and has been ordered to pay $11 billion in damages.
Several of his former colleagues, 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 a two-year sentence in federal prison earlier this month.
Meanwhile, Singh managed to avoid jail time, but will still have to serve three years of probation supervision. Wang is scheduled to be sentenced in federal court in Manhattan on November 20.
News of the lawsuit comes alongside reports that Girls series creator Lena Dunham is writing a script about the infamous crypto scam for Apple Studios and A24, based on author Michael Lewis’ October 2023 book. Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon.
