Former FTX co-CEO Ryan Salame’s sentencing has been rescheduled for May 28, as stated in a filing in the Southern New York District Court. The reason for the postponement from the original date of May 1 remains unclear.
Salame, along with Sam Bankman-Fried, was one of the four members of FTX’s top management charged by the United States government in connection with the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange. Unlike the other three individuals, including former Alameda Research head Caroline Ellison, FTX co-founder Gray Wang, and former FTX top engineer Nishad Singh, Salame did not testify against Bankman-Fried.
All four executives reportedly reached plea deals with U.S. prosecutors. Salame is currently out on a $1-million bond.
Similar to the other executives, Salame pleaded guilty to federal charges related to the FTX debacle. Additionally, he faces charges relating to campaign finance violations associated with his girlfriend Michelle Bond’s unsuccessful bid to represent New York’s First District in the House of Representatives. Bond was defeated in the Republican primary.
According to reports, both sets of charges against Salame could carry prison sentences of up to five years. Bankman-Fried’s defense argued that he should not be charged with campaign contribution violations as they were not included in his extradition agreement from the Bahamas. However, these charges were later combined with the fraud charges against him.
During the trial, Bankman-Fried, who pleaded not guilty, claimed that he did not discuss his political donations with Salame. All four executives charged alongside Bankman-Fried have pleaded guilty to the charges against them.
Salame’s exact role in the criminal activities at FTX remains somewhat ambiguous. It is said that he was not part of Bankman-Fried’s inner circle and was genuinely shocked by the news of the exchange’s collapse, which even made him physically sick. However, court records from the Bahamas later revealed that he informed the country’s Securities Commission about irregularities at the exchange in November 2022, which led to an investigation.
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