The US is taking legal action to obtain crypto linked to the founder of fallen exchange FTX which is allegedly in an account previously used to pay bribes to Chinese officials.
Prosecutors have sued to obtain cryptocurrency that the government said was in an account connected to bribes paid to Chinese officials before FTX collapsed, according to a court filing in New York. As of 12 December 2023, the account held crypto with a value of $8.6 million which has risen to about $18.5 million due to the recent market rally.
In a previously dismissed charge, prosecutors said that Chinese law enforcement authorities froze accounts in 2021 held by Alameda Research – FTX’s trading fund unit – on two Chinese crypto exchanges. Sam Bankman-Fried allegedly authorized a $40 million bribe to unfreeze $1 billion.
