Former FTX CEO Salame was sentenced to more than 7 years in prison

Another former FTX executive was jailed for his part in the crypto giant’s collapse in late 2022.

Ryan Salame, co-CEO of FTX’s Bahamian subsidiary, has been sentenced to 90 months in prison, US federal prosecutors said.

Salame – subordinate of Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange – pleaded guilty in September last year for violating political campaign finance laws and operating an illegal money transmission business.

This early year, Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison for stealing $8 billion (£6.3 billion) from FTX customers.

Damian Williams, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York: “Salame’s involvement in two serious federal crimes undermined public confidence in America’s elections and the integrity of the system.” financial system”. said in a statement.

A jury found Salame guilty last November of seven counts of fraud and conspiracy stemming from the FTX debacle. Prosecutors called it one of the largest financial frauds in US history.

Salame’s sentence was longer than the five to seven years that prosecutors wanted.

In addition to the prison term, he was sentenced to three years of probation and ordered to pay more than $6 million in forfeiture and more than $5 million in restitution.

Salame is one of four former top executives at Bankman-Fried companies to plead guilty, along with former Alameda executive Caroline Ellison, former FTX chief technology officer Gary Wang and former FTX chief technical officer Nishad Singh .

FTX was one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges before its collapse, making Bankman-Fried a famous businessman and attracting millions of customers to use the platform to buy and trade cryptocurrency death.

Rumors of financial trouble caused a wave of deposit withdrawals in 2022, leading to the company’s collapse and the exposure of Bankman-Fried’s crimes.

He was convicted by a New York jury last year on charges including wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy, after a trial that detailed how he used client money to buy assets , make political donations and invest in other investments.