Michelle Bond Indicted Despite Partner Ryan Salame’s Effort to Protect Her From FTX Fallout

Key Takeaways:

• Former FTX executive Ryan Salame’s girlfriend Michelle Bond was charged with violating campaign finance laws.
• The conviction against the former FTX executive’s partner came a day after he asked a federal court to overturn his conviction.
• Salame cried foul, claiming the prosecutors didn’t keep their end of the bargain made on the plea deal.

Michelle Bond, the girlfriend of former FTX Bahamas chief Ryan Salame, was charged  with violating campaign finance laws on Thursday, Aug. 22.

This charge comes from Salame’s recent claim that his plea deal had been breached, which he believed would have shielded Bond from prosecution after his conviction.

Bond, a 2022 Republican congressional candidate, is accused of taking $400,000 from the now-defunct FTX crypto exchange, where Salame, her partner, was among the top five executives. 

Bond Violated Federal Campaign Finance Laws

The United States Attorney’s Office in Manhattan said Bond violated federal campaign finance laws by accepting hefty donations from a company where her partner was a key executive. 

According to a 2010 US Supreme Court judgment, political candidates cannot accept direct corporate payments for their election campaigns.   The $400,000 donation in question violated laws prohibiting direct corporate contributions.

The law only allows corporate donations to a political action committee (PAC) rather than directly funding political candidates. 

According to her LinkedIn profile, Bond worked at the Association for Digital Asset Markets, a cryptocurrency trade group, from 2020 to 2022. 

She was a Congressional candidate for the Republican party representing Long Island, New York, but lost the primary in 2022.

Bond is charged with four felonies, including causing and receiving an unlawful contribution and causing and receiving a straw contribution.

FTX Executives’ Past Comes to Haunt His Present

The charges against Bond come just a day after her partner and former FTX executive filed a request with the federal court in New York.

On Wednesday, Salame requested a federal judge overturn his 7.5-year conviction related to the FTX fraud or exempt Bond from any government investigation, alleging a breach of the plea deal with the prosecutors.

As CCN reported on Aug. 22, Salame claimed he accepted a guilty plea deal after the prosecution promised to end any investigation into his partner after his conviction. 

However, he argued that the plea deal with the U.S. Attorney’s office was made on a verbal term, and these conditions weren’t written into his plea agreement.

In May 2023, Salame pleaded guilty to donating millions of dollars in unlawful campaign contributions.

Looking at Salame’s last desperate attempt to save the mother of his children from conviction, it seems he was aware that the corporate contributions made by FTX would come to haunt him.

About the Author

Prashant Jha

Prashant Jha is a crypto-journalist focused on the US and UK markets, his interests lie in blockchain technology and crypto adoption across emerging economies.

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