Michelle Bond, partner of former FTX executive Ryan Salame, denies campaign finance violations allegations

Michelle Bond, the partner of former FTX co-CEO Ryan Salame, pleaded not guilty to four counts of campaign finance violations in the federal court for the Southern District of New York. The charges include conspiracy to cause illegal campaign contributions, causing and accepting excessive campaign contributions, causing and accepting illegal corporate contributions, and causing and accepting middleman contributions. The charges stem from Bond's alleged concealment of the source of funds when he ran for a Republican seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in 2022. Salame allegedly arranged for FTX to pay $400,000 to fund her campaign, and Bond allegedly made false statements to the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and congressional committees. It is worth noting that Salame had previously pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 90 months in prison, but after Bond was indicted, he asked the court to revoke his guilty plea, saying that the plea was based on the prosecutor's promise not to investigate his partner. Judge Lewis Kaplan said he would consider whether to revoke Salame's guilty plea. Currently, Bond is still released on $1 million bail, but is restricted from traveling within the United States. Judge George Daniels has scheduled a pre-trial conference for January 2025. In the FTX and Alameda Research criminal prosecutions, only Salame and SBF have been sentenced to prison as of September 18. Sentencing hearings for the other executives involved will take place in the coming months.