Michelle Bond, a former congressional candidate with ties to the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has been charged with conspiring in an unlawful campaign finance scheme, according to an indictment unsealed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney, announced the charges against Bond, accusing her of using illegally obtained funds to finance her 2022 run for a U.S. House seat in New York’s 1st district. The indictment alleges that Bond conspired with her partner, former FTX executive Ryan Salame, to funnel corporate funds into her campaign.
“Michelle Bond allegedly financed her campaign with illicit funds and took deliberate steps to hide her misconduct, including lying to Congress about the origins of the deposits,” said Christie M. Curtis, Acting Assistant Director of the FBI, in a statement.
Bond’s campaign reportedly received $400,000 through a sham consulting agreement between Bond and a Bahamas-based subsidiary of a cryptocurrency exchange. Prosecutors allege that the funds were disguised as “consulting income” and reported as such in her 2022 financial disclosure form, though internal documents reveal that Bond acknowledged she did not work for the exchange and that the money was intended for her campaign.
The charges against Bond include conspiracy to cause unlawful campaign contributions and accepting excessive contributions, each carrying a maximum sentence of five years in prison.
Salame’s Efforts to Block Bond’s Indictment
The charges come after a contentious legal back-and-forth between Salame and prosecutors. Salame, who was sentenced to 7.5 years in prison in May after pleading guilty to unlawful political contributions and operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business, claimed that his guilty plea was contingent on the government dropping its investigation into Bond. He argued that the government’s failure to honor this agreement should lead to either Bond’s indictment being dismissed or his own conviction being overturned.
Prosecutors, however, refuted Salame’s claims, stating that they had made it clear that his plea deal did not shield Bond from further investigation. A court hearing on the matter is scheduled for September.
