Nearly three years after the collapse of crypto trade FTX, courtroom battles tied to its executives and their associates are nonetheless unfolding. This week, Michelle Bond, partner of former FTX Digital Markets co-CEO Ryan Salame, will return to court docket for an evidentiary listening to in her legal case.
In a Sunday submitting within the US District Court for the Southern District of New York (SDNY), Bond’s authorized group requested {that a} federal choose permit her to testify regardless of prosecutors’ objections.
Prosecutors had argued Friday that it was unlikely Bond may provide testimony related to Salame’s plea settlement involving allegations of marketing campaign finance fraud. He’s presently serving time in jail for expenses associated to his function within the firm’s downfall.
Salame’s plea deal sits on the coronary heart of Bond’s case over alleged marketing campaign finance violations. Prosecutors alleged that Salame ordered $400,000 in funds tied to FTX despatched to her marketing campaign.
Bond was charged with conspiracy to trigger illegal marketing campaign contributions, inflicting and accepting extreme marketing campaign contributions, inflicting and receiving an illegal company contribution, and inflicting and receiving a conduit contribution in August 2024. She pleaded not responsible to all expenses.
“The authorities has no grounds to pre-emptively bar Ms. Bond from testifying as a result of her testimony is neither redundant nor irrelevant,” mentioned her attorneys. “Ms. Bond’s and her husband’s frame of mind in getting into into the plea settlement are immediately related to the problems earlier than the Court […]”
As one in every of 5 defendants included within the indictment of former FTX and Alameda Research executives, Salame pleaded responsible to conspiracy to make illegal political contributions and defraud the Federal Election Commission and conspiracy to function an unlicensed cash transmitting enterprise.
He was sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in jail, the place he reported in October 2024.
After Salame’s responsible plea, his attorneys tried to vacate his cope with US prosecutors, claiming that the settlement was contingent on them not pursuing legal expenses in opposition to Bond. He in the end dropped the criticism, saying that Bond would handle the matter as a part of her case.
Related: Judge questions if ex-FTX exec perjured himself in responsible plea
Returning to court docket after months
The scheduled Thursday evidentiary listening to will mark the primary time Bond will return to court docket after months of filings centered on Salame’s cope with the federal government.
In addition to Bond probably taking the stand, her attorneys requested that former Assistant US Attorney Danielle Sassoon testify. Sassoon was the lead prosecutor within the authorities’s case in opposition to former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and 4 different executives, together with Salame.
Though Sassoon resigned in February after the Justice Department directed her to halt a case in opposition to New York City Mayor Eric Adams, Bond’s attorneys requested that she seem to talk on “any promise or inducement made to Mr. Salame to plead responsible.”
The US Attorneys haven’t opposed the movement, however requested that Bond’s attorneys present “documentary proof” or testimony associated to the plea deal.
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