FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried pleads not guilty to China bribery and campaign finance charges
- The cryptocurrency exchange founder had earlier pleaded not guilty to 8 counts of fraud and conspiracy for allegedly stealing billions in FTX customer funds
- The new charges add to the pressure on Bankman-Fried, who faces a possible sentence of decades in prison if convicted at a trial set to start on October 2
Indicted FTX cryptocurrency exchange founder Sam Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty on Thursday to new US charges of conspiring to violate campaign finance laws and bribe Chinese authorities.
Bankman-Fried, 31, entered the plea to the new, 13-count indictment through his lawyer, Mark Cohen, at a hearing before US District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan federal court.
He had earlier pleaded not guilty to eight counts of fraud and conspiracy for allegedly stealing billions in FTX customer funds to plug losses at his hedge fund, Alameda Research.
Cohen said he was planning to challenge the new charges because they were brought after Bankman-Fried was extradited from the Bahamas, where he was arrested in December and where FTX was based.
The new charges add to the pressure on Bankman-Fried, who faces a possible sentence of decades in prison if convicted at a trial set to start on October 2.
