Bankman-Fried Pleads Not Guilty to Violating FCPA

The former head of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, pleaded not guilty on March 30 during a proceeding at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York to bribing Chinese authorities, Reuters reported. The bribery charge, filed as a violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, was added to Bankman-Fried's indictment this week and alleges that the former executive paid around $40 million in cryptocurrency to one or more Chinese government officials to "induce them" to unfreeze certain cryptocurrency trading accounts held by Alameda Research, one of Bankman-Fried's other companies (see 2303280037) (U.S. v. Samuel Bankman-Fried, S.D.N.Y. # 22-00673).