Romantic Partner of Former FTX Executive Faces Campaign Finance Charges

Former FTX executive Ryan Salame agreed to enter into a plea agreement in order to protect Michelle Bond, according to a petition filed by his lawyers. Undated file photograph. Stefani Reynolds/AFP

Former FTX executive Ryan Salame’s romantic partner, Michelle Bond, has been indicted for allegedly using illegal contributions to fund her 2022 run for Congress.

Bond, 45, was a CEO of a crypto industry trade group when she unsuccessfully ran for a congressional seat representing the eastern portion of Long Island in May 2022, according to the indictment filed in the Southern District of New York and unsealed on Aug. 23.

Prosecutors allege that Bond’s partner, who was only referred to as “CC-1” and described as someone who served as a high-level executive at a subsidiary of a now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange, orchestrated a sham consulting agreement that led to the exchange paying her $400,000.

Bond allegedly used the cash “almost entirely” to illegally finance her campaign. That payment was followed by “hundreds of thousands of dollars” being deposited into her personal account, which she is also alleged to have used for her campaign, the indictment states.

She is then alleged to have attempted to cover up the conduct by making false statements to a congressional committee and the Federal Election Commission, as well as lying to her employer at the time, according to prosecutors.

Bond allegedly reported the $400,000 payment as consulting income in a financial disclosure form filed with the House Ethics Committee in 2022, according to the indictment.

In or about September 2022, the trade group undertook a performance review of Bond. The trade group scheduled a meeting with her to discuss, among other things, the exchange payment.

However, in talking points that Bond prepared for a meeting with the board of the group, Bond acknowledged that she did not work for the exchange and that the exchange gave the money for her campaign, it is alleged.

Bond was charged with four counts of conspiracy to cause unlawful campaign contributions, accepting excessive campaign contributions, receiving an unlawful corporate contribution, and receiving a conduit contribution. Each count carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison if convicted.

U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams said in a statement on Aug. 22, “Misconduct by those campaigning for public office undermines public trust in American elections and in representative government more broadly.”

Salame pleaded guilty last year to conspiring to make unlawful political contributions and operating an unlicensed money-transmitting business. He was sentenced to more than seven years in prison.

His lawyers filed a petition on Aug. 21 requesting that the judge vacate his conviction. They argued that prosecutors reneged on a deal to end the investigation into Bond if Salame pleaded guilty.

According to the court filing, Salame had agreed to enter into a plea agreement in order to protect Bond, whom he described as his “domestic partner” and “the mother of his child.”

Salame was accused of conspiring with FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried and other employees of FTX and Alameda Research to unlawfully transmit customer funds without a license. In March, Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison for defrauding investors of $8 billion via the failed exchange.

The Epoch Times reached out to Bond for comment but did not hear back by publication time.

Katabella Roberts contributed to this report.