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.

Former Ripple Labs executive Michelle Bond has been indicted on four counts related to campaign finance violations by a grand jury in the Eastern District of New York.

The charges stem from allegations that Bond, who was also a Republican candidate for Congress in 2022, received $400,000 from FTX for her campaign. Prosecutors claim that Bond concealed the source of the funds from the Federal Elections Commission and the House Ethics Committee, falsely stating that she had no involvement with FTX or any related entities.

According to the indictment, Bond's partner at the time, FTX executive Ryan Salame, arranged for a "sham consulting agreement" with FTX that paid her the funds in question.

After receiving the money,Prosecutors allege that she 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.

Afterward, Bond used the funds to finance her political campaign, which is prohibited by law.

The charges against her were first reported in May by the New York Times.

Bond, who is 45 years old, announced her candidacy to represent New York's 1st Congressional District in May 2022. The filing states that Salame, a high-level executive at “a now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange,” arranged for a “sham consulting agreement” with FTX that paid her $400,000.

Bond later lost a 2022 Republican primary to represent New York State’s Long Island in Congress.

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,

“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…I took the government at its word.”

In response, the government described 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 Sam Bankman-Fried.

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 now has 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.

Salame Delays Jail Term

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 Caroline Ellison, 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 above is the detailed content of Michelle Bond, a Former Ripple Labs Executive is charged with violating campaign finance laws. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!