Former FTX Exec Ryan Salame Withdraws Guilty Plea Petition As Longtime Partner Michelle Bond Faces Criminal Charges

Former
co-CEO
of


FTX

Digital
Markets
Ryan
Salame
will
no
longer
vacate
his
guilty
plea
for
violating
campaign
financing
and
money-transmitting
laws
as
his
former
longtime
partner
Michelle
Bond
faces
criminal
charges.

Salame
withdrew
his
petition
against
the
guilty
plea
on
Aug.
29,
according
to
a
filing
with
the
United
States
District
Court
for
the
Southern
District
of
New
York.
“To
be
clear,
Mr.
Salame
stands
by
the
facts
set
forth
in
the
Petition
and
his
accompanying
declaration,”
Salame’s
legal
team
said
in
the
filing. 

Prosecutors
Call
Claims
By
Ryan
Salame
“Demonstrably
False”

On
Aug.
29,
prosecutors
had
unsealed
an
indictment
against
Bond
that
alleged
she
had
violated
campaign
financing
laws
during
her
2022
congressional
campaign.
Salame
responded
to
the
unsealed
documents,
claiming
that
the
US
Government
would
not
pursue
an
investigation
into
Bond
for
her
alleged
violations
as
part
of
his
guilty
plea.

Prosecutors
called
Salame’s
claims
“demonstrably
false,”
and
opposed
the
motion.
After
withdrawing
his
petition,
Salame’s
legal
team
told
the
court
that
Bond
“may
raise
the
matter”
of
her
partner’s
guilty
plea
in
her
case. 

“Mr.
Salame
is
withdrawing
the
Petition,
however,
to
allow
the
facts
to
be
developed
by
Ms.
Bond,
and
a
ruling
to
be
made,
in
her
case,”
Salame’s
legal
team
said.

Bond
Allegedly
Lied
To
The
Federal
Election
Committee
To
Conceal
The
Source
Of
Illegal
$400K
Payment

The
campaign
finance
allegations
against
both
Salame
and


Bond

stem
from
allegations
by
prosecutors
that
both
parties
conspired
to
use
funds
from
the
now-defunct
FTX
exchange
to
fund
Bond’s
2022
congressional
campaign.

In
the
unsealed
indictment,
prosecutors
charged
Bond
with
conspiracy
to
cause
unlawful
campaign
contributions,
causing
and
receiving
excessive
campaign
contributions,
causing
and
receiving
unlawful
campaign
contributions,
and
causing
and
receiving
a
conduit
contribution.

My
story
looking
at
former
congressional
candidate
Michelle
Bond’s
campaign
$$$
and
ties
to
FTX
in
2022
(before
the
exchange
collapsed)
was
mentioned
in
her
indictment
that
was
unsealed
today
–>https://t.co/2qG82NXFkt

pic.twitter.com/kfgBrMycdn

—
Stephanie
Murray
(@stephanie_murr)

August
22,
2024

That’s
after
Bond
allegedly
arranged
an
illegal
payment
of
$400,000.
Bond
thanked
Salame
for
“paying
that
invoice”
shortly
after
the
transfer,
the
indictment
showed.
Bond
was
also
accused
of
making
false
statements
to
the
Federal
Election
Commission
as
well
as
the
congressional
committee
in
an
attempt
to
cover
up
the
source
of
the
funds.

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