Republican

Based

Source

Partner

Michelle Bond, a Former Ripple Labs Executive is charged with violating campaign finance laws. She is a former US congressional candidate and the mother and her LinkedIn profile shows she worked at the Association for Digital Asset Markets between 2020 and 2022.
<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-bond-partner-of-ex-ftx-executive-lied-about-source-of-campaign-fund">Bond, Partner Of Ex-FTX Executive, Lied About Source of Campaign Fund</h2>
Bond, partner to ex-<a href="https://www.thecoinrepublic.com/2024/07/17/ftx-agrees-to-pay-12-7-billion-in-cftc-lawsuit-settlement/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">FTX</a> executive <a href="https://www.thecoinrepublic.com/2022/11/15/ftx-co-ceo-ryan-salame-is-continuing-and-lawyering-up/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Ryan Salame</a>, later lost a 2022 Republican primary to represent New York State’s Long Island in Congress. The current charges date back two years, during her unsuccessful campaign for the New York Congressional seat.
She allegedly took funds worth about $400,000 from the cryptocurrency exchange where her partner served as an executive. As per reports, Bond used this fund to finance her political campaign, violating the laws prohibiting corporate contributions.
For more context, the 45-year-old woman launched her campaign to represent New York’s 1st Congressional District in May 2022. The filing noted that Salame, a high-level executive at “a now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange,” arranged for a “sham consulting agreement” with FTX that paid Bond $400,000.
Notably, after receiving the money, Bond lied to the House Ethics Committee and the Federal Elections Commission about its source. Per the filing of the indictment, she denied her involvement with FTX or related entities.
<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-government-denies-offering-cooperation-agreement-to-salame">Government Denies Offering Cooperation Agreement to Salame</h2>
Recently, Salame pointed out in a filing that prosecutors had failed to honor a deal to drop any investigation of Bond if he agreed to plead guilty. Salame stated,
<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">
 “A significant contributing factor to my accepting the plea arrangement was the understanding that, if I did so, the government would not pursue the campaign-finance charges against Bond…took the government at its word.”
</blockquote>
In response, the government <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/08/22/michelle-bond-romantic-partner-of-former-ftx-exec-salame-indicted.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">described</a> Salame’s claims as false and self-serving. A source who requested anonymity confirmed that prosecutors never offered Salame a co-operation agreement.
It is worth noting that the ex-FTX and Ripple executive pleaded guilty to making millions of dollars in unlawful campaign contributions. Most of these contributions focused on boosting causes supported by FTX founder <a href="https://www.thecoinrepublic.com/2024/04/12/bankman-fried-appeals-sentence-ftx-reimbursement-advances/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Sam Bankman-Fried.</a>
For their part in the collapse of FTX, Salame later received a 7.5-year jail term, while Bankman-Fried got 25 years. Once the Global Head of Government Relations at Ripple Labs, Bond has about four criminal counts against her.
The charges from the Department of Justice include causing and receiving an unlawful contribution and causing and receiving a straw contribution. It remains unclear if Bond will receive a sentence as heavy as either Salame’s or Bankman-Fried’s or if she will also bag a lenient plea deal.
<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-salame-delays-jail-term">Salame Delays Jail Term</h2>
It is worth noting that Salame may not commence his sentence as earlier decided following a recent dog attack incident. Based on the initial plans, he should report to prison on August 29. His friend’s German Shepherd mauled him in June while visiting.
Due to the severity of the injury, including a bite on the face, he needed to undergo surgery. Hence, his legal team wrote to the court to move his surrender date to October 13. A few FTX executives, including Gary Wang, Nishad Singh, and <a href="https://www.thecoinrepublic.com/2022/11/20/alamedas-ceo-caroline-ellison-is-she-the-reason-behind-ftxs-fall/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Caroline Ellison</a>, pleaded guilty.
They were deemed complicit in the downfall of FTX, and went as far as testifying at Bankman-Fried’s trial in 2023.
The post <a href="https://www.thecoinrepublic.com/2024/08/23/former-ripple-exec-slammed-with-campaign-finance-fraud-charges/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Former Ripple Exec Slammed With Campaign Finance Fraud Charges</a> appeared first on <a href="https://www.thecoinrepublic.com" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">The Coin Republic</a>.

Former Ripple Exec Slammed With Campaign Finance Fraud Charges

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