Federal prosecutors have requested information related to political donations from FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, The New York Times reports.
Bankman-Fried was arrested last week and charged with fraud and other crimes after the collapse of FTX.
Among other things, prosecutors in Manhattan have inquired about his political donations to both Democrats and Republicans.
Prosecutors have reached out to the Democrats’ fundraising arm, its biggest super PAC, and campaigns of lawmakers like incoming House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries about donations from SBF, his colleagues and his companies, according to the report.
Prosecutors are also looking at donations to Republican campaigns and committees made by another FTX executive.
$45 million in donations:
SBF donated nearly $45 million to political campaigns ahead of the election, mostly to Democrats.
There are no allegations of wrongdoing against the campaigns but some, like Jeffries and Rep.-elect Aaron Bean, a Florida Republican, have returned the money or donated it to charity.
Other groups say they have set the cash aside for possible restitution to victims of SBF’s alleged fraud scheme.
US Attorney Damian Williams last week called on “any person, entity or political campaign that has received stolen customer money” to “work with us to return that money to innocent victims.”
Which groups got money?
The Biden-allied nonprofit Future Forward USA Action received $1.65 million linked to FTX, according to the Times.
The group's PAC previously disclosed $5 million from SBF and $1 million from former FTX executive Nishad Singh in 2020.
Singh donated about $9.7 million to Democratic groups.
Ryan Salame, another FTX exec, meanwhile donated $24 million to GOP groups.
