Prosecutors drop another charge against FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried
Indicted FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried leaves the United States Courthouse in New York City, July 26, 2023.
Amr Alfiky | Reuters
Federal prosecutors dropped a campaign finance charge against Sam Bankman-Fried, the second time that they have narrowed the indictment against the founder of crypto exchange FTX .
Prosecutors told Judge Lewis Kaplan on Wednesday that they were dropping the charge of conspiracy to make unlawful campaign contributions because they had failed to obtain permission from the government of the Bahamas for that charge when Bankman-Fried was extradited from the island nation in December.
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The U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan previously dropped another charge against him, for violating anti-bribery statutes, on the same grounds.
The moves narrow the criminal exposure of the former billionaire, who prosecutors allege conspired to defraud investors and customers out of billions. The alleged scheme precipitated the collapse of Bankman-Fried’s FTX and sent shockwaves throughout the crypto industry.
Prosecutors had alleged that Bankman-Fried funneled hundreds of millions of dollars in bipartisan campaign financing through two unnamed co-conspirators to avoid campaign contribution limits. The charge could have added two to five years to Bankman-Fried’s imprisonment if convicted.
In their letter Wednesday to Kaplan in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, prosecutors wrote, “The Government has been informed that The Bahamas notified the United States earlier today that The Bahamas did not intend to extradite the defendant on the campaign contributions count.”
“Accordingly, in keeping with its treaty obligations to The Bahamas, the Government does not intend to proceed to trial on the campaign contributions count,” prosecutors wrote.
Since Bankman-Fried’s detention and extradition, civil and criminal charges have been brought against a number of exchanges, advisors, and individuals for crypto-related schemes. Former FTX executives, including top lieutenants Caroline Ellison, Gary Wang, and Nishad Singh have all pleaded guilty to federal charges. They are cooperating with the government’s prosecution against Bankman-Fried, who is expected to face trial later this year.
Lisa Su, president and CEO of AMD, talks about the AMD EPYC processor during a keynote address at the 2019 CES in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., January 9, 2019.
Steve Marcus | Reuters
AMD said on Wednesday that its board of directors approved $6 billion in share buybacks. The stock climbed 6%.
The authorization is in addition to $4 billion in existing approved share repurchases, the company said.
“Our expanded share repurchase program reflects the Board’s confidence in AMD’s strategic direction, growth prospects, and ability to consistently generate strong free cash flow,” AMD CEO Lisa Su said in a statement.
AMD, the most important artificial intelligence chip company aside from Nvidia, reported 96 cents in earnings per share on $7.44 billion in revenue in its fiscal first quarter.
AMD announced a deal potentially worth $10 billion in investment on Tuesday to support an AI company called Humain in Saudi Arabia with chips. Su was in Saudi Arabia this week to announce the deal.
AMD said that it would provide graphics processors for AI as well as central processors needed to build AI servers to Humain, which is also buying Nvidia processors. Bank of America analyst Vivek Arya added $10 to his price target for AMD, bringing it to $130 per share, on the news.
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