Sam Bankman-Fried indicted on more criminal charges over FTX collapse

Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced co-founder of failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX ( FTT-USD ), has been slapped with additional criminal charges from federal prosecutors, according to a new 12-count indictment unsealed Thursday in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. In addition to the eight counts he already faced, the former billionaire, popularly known as SBF, is being accused of committing bank fraud, operating an unlicensed money transmitting business and making unlawful political contributions to acquire influence over crypto regulation. Moreover, he was accused of stealing FTX ( FTT-USD ) customer deposits, billions of dollars of which were used to support FTX's and its affiliated hedge fund Alameda Research's investments and operations, to fund speculative venture stakes, to make charitable donations and to enrich himself, the document said. SBF, who is currently free on a $250M bail, steered "tens of millions of dollars in illegal campaign contributions to both Democrats and Republicans," the indictment claimed. SBF along with his co-conspirators “made over 300 political contributions, totaling tens of millions of dollars, that were unlawful because they were made in the name of a straw donor or paid for with corporate funds." “To avoid certain contributions being publicly reported in his name, Bankman-Fried conspired to and did have certain political contributions made in the names of two other FTX executives,” the filing added. Last month, Bankman-Fried, slated to go on trial in October, pleaded not guilty to all eight criminal counts in federal court. Shortly before that, though, a number of his associates pleaded guilty to such charges .