- The Ministry of Justice has already sent out letters demanding that funds be transferred to the Marshals Service
- Some obeyed, others sent “dirty money” to charitable foundations, others are still silent
- The exact amount of Bankman-Fried donations is still unknown.
The US Department of Justice sent a letter to some members of Congress urging them to voluntarily donate funds received from FTX representatives. Earlier, we reported that the former CEO of the exchange, Sam Bankman-Fried, generously handed out money to those politicians who promised to support the legalization of cryptocurrencies.
The portal reports Blockworks citing their sources. This was confirmed, for example, in the office of Senator Bob Latta from Ohio. In October 2022, the politician received $ 2.9 thousand for the election campaign from Ryan Salame, the former chief executive of FTX Global Markes.
In total, he gave about $ 23 million to various candidates. For the most part, these were Republicans. The office of Senator Latta noted that they transferred the entire amount to the Ministry of Justice on demand. Judging by the data provided, the policy team received a request from the department at the beginning of the year.
The money received from the management of FTX was also returned by: Laurie Chavez-DeRemer (Ohio), Mark Molinaro (New York), Elise Stefanik (New York) and Brian Fitzpatrick (Pennsylvania). Now these funds are frozen in the accounts of the Ministry of Justice.
Some other politicians donated their donations to charity, or so they claim. Others appear to have ignored the Justice Department’s request.