Partner of ex-FTX exec pleads not guilty to campaign finance charges

Michelle Bond, the partner of former FTX Digital Markets co-CEO Ryan Salame, has pleaded not guilty to four counts of campaign finance violations in federal court.

In a Sept. 17 hearing in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Bond pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to cause unlawful campaign contributions, causing and accepting excessive campaign contributions, causing and receiving an unlawful corporate contribution, and causing and receiving a conduit contribution. She remained free on a $1 million bond after an Aug. 22 hearing and was restricted from traveling outside the continental US.

The charges stemmed from Bond’s allegedly concealing the source of funds for her run as a Republican for a seat in the US House of Representatives in 2022. Salame allegedly arranged a $400,000 payment from FTX to fund her campaign, and she allegedly made false statements to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and a congressional committee.

Intertwined criminal cases

In September 2023, Salame pleaded guilty to conspiracy to make unlawful political contributions and defraud the FEC and was later sentenced to 90 months in prison. However, after Bond’s indictment became public, he petitioned the court to vacate his plea, claiming it was based on an agreement with prosecutors not to pursue an investigation against his partner, also the mother of his child.

Following a Sept. 12 hearing, Judge Lewis Kaplan said he would consider whether to vacate Salame’s plea. At the time of publication, the former FTX executive was still scheduled to report to prison on Oct. 11.

In 2022, Bond ran to represent New York’s 1st Congressional District, but her campaign did not move beyond the Republican primary. She has since launched a crypto-focused think tank in Washington, DC. As of Sept. 17, no trial date had been set, but Judge George Daniels scheduled a pretrial conference for January 2025.

Related: In prison and awaiting sentencing — Where are the FTX execs now?

Of the five individuals named in the FTX and Alameda Research criminal indictment, Salame and former FTX CEO Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried have been the only ones to be sentenced to prison as of Sept. 18. SBF is currently serving a 25-year sentence, but his lawyers have filed to appeal his conviction.

Former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison is scheduled to appear for a hearing on Sept. 24, but a memo filed by the US government suggested the judge may consider time served or a lighter sentence. Nishad Singh and Gary Wang, two other former FTX executives, have sentencing hearings set for October and November, respectively.

Magazine: ‘Less flashy’ Mashinsky set for less jail time than SBF: Inner City Press, X Hall of Flame