Former FTX executive Ryan Salame was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy charges related to unlawful political contributions and operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business, as noticed by the US Attorney’s Office Southern District of New York (SDNY). Salame’s sentence also includes three years of supervised release and the payment of more than $11 million in forfeiture and restitution.
“Ryan Salame agreed to advance the interests of FTX, Alameda Research, and his co-conspirators through an unlawful political influence campaign and through an unlicensed money transmitting business, which helped FTX grow faster and larger by operating outside of the law,” stated US Attorney Damian Williams. “Salame’s involvement in two serious federal crimes undermined public trust in American elections and the integrity of the financial system. Today’s sentence underscores the substantial consequences for such offenses.”
As a high-ranking official at Alameda Research and co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets, Salame conspired with others to illegally transmit customer funds and make covert political donations, the US Attorney SDNY communicated.
“In total, SALAME and his co-conspirators made over 300 political contributions, totaling tens of millions of dollars, that were unlawful because they were made in the name of a straw donor or paid for with corporate funds and caused false information to be reported by campaigns and political action committees to the Federal Election Commission.”
The sentence pales compared to FTX’s former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. SBF, as Bankman-Fried is commonly known, was sentenced to 25 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and $11 billion in forfeiture for defrauding FTX’s investors of more than $1.7 billion. He was also found guilty of two counts of wire fraud, two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit commodities fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
