Fact check- No, US aid to Ukraine wasn’t laundered by crypto firm FTX and sent to Democrats

US prosecutors investigating Democrats over FTX donations – NYT

It looks like over $70 million was misappropriated in the form of donations.

Prosecutors in New York are seeking information from Democrat politicians and organizations on donations from disgraced crypto tycoon Sam Bankman-Fried, the New York Times reported on Saturday. Before he was arrested and charged with fraud, Bankman-Fried donated over $70 million to Democratic causes

Some recipients of the funds have opted to return them.

Jeffries is among a number of politicians who have since handed their donations from Bankman-Fried on to charity. Three prominent Democratic groups – the DNC and the party’s House and Senate Campaign Commissions – have opted to return more than $1 million in contributions, while the White House has refused to say whether President Joe Biden would return nearly $59,000 in donations by Bankman-Fried to his 2020 campaign.

But not Joe's campaign.

The saga continues...

First things first: why did they need ANY donations to be made via crypto?
Why did they not set up a transparent committee to hold and distribute funds? Why was crypto even involved in the first place? I don't see The Fellowship of Christians and Jews commercials showing a wallet to donate your crypto to. Or even the Scientologists ffs.

The whole entire thing over in Ukraine stinks and it amazes me that people think this "war" is organic. They are all playing on the same team and that includes Putin. And it's not just the Dems either - it's funneling huge amounts of wealth out of our country... just as Covid caused a major wealth and property shift as well.

It part and parcel of the decimation of the American middle class and all are complicit in our rapid decline (and no Annee, it's not just things "changing and evolving" as you said in the thread re: businesses not having any customers. I am here a LOT I just don't comment very much)

FTX co-founder and ex-chief of hedge fund Alameda Research each pleaded guilty to multiple charges, are cooperating with feds

Ellison and Wang have pleaded guilty to multiple charges...

—  Two senior executives associated with collapsed crypto exchange FTX have pleaded guilty to multiple criminal charges and are cooperating with federal prosecutors, according to unsealed court records. Additionally, the pair face civil fraud charges from the Securities and Exchange Commission that were announced Wednesday night. Gary Wang, the co-founder of FTX, and Caroline Ellison, who served as CEO of the hedge fund Alameda Research, pleaded guilty to multiple counts of conspiracy and fraud for their roles in the fraud scheme that led to the collapse of the crypto-trading platform.

and will be cooperating with prosecutors.

In letters dated Sunday, December 18, and signed the following day, Ellison and Wang agreed to plead guilty and cooperate with prosecutors.

So far, it seems as though SBF is the only person being charged with campaign finance charges.

Ellison is pleading guilty to seven counts, including wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. She is charged with the same crimes as Bankman-Fried, except for the campaign finance charges.

They all face additional civil charges from the SEC.

Wang created FTX’s source code that allowed Alameda to divert FTX customer funds and Ellison used misappropriated funds for the hedge fund’s trading activity, according to the SEC. “Ellison and Wang were active participants in the scheme to deceive FTX’s investors and engaged in conduct that was critical to its success,” the SEC said in a release.

SEC Release

Ex-Alameda CEO says she, others plotted to use FTX customers' funds

Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Sam Bankman-Fried's trading firm Alameda Research, said she conspired with others to use billions of dollars of customers' funds from SBF's failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX (FTT-USD) while misleading lenders about the true nature of the companies' financial relationship.

“While I was co-CEO and then CEO, I understood that Alameda had made numerous large illiquid venture investments and had lent money to Mr. Bankman-Fried and other FTX executives,” Ellison swore, adding that the investments were financed with short-term and open-term loans worth several billion dollars from lenders across the crypto space. “I understood that FTX would need to use customer funds to finance its loans to Alameda,” she said