There are claims that Michelle Bond, a former candidate for Congress and the partner of former FTX executive Ryan Salame, broke campaign funding regulations in the United States. Bond is alleged to have used illegal funds to support her unsuccessful 2022 House race in New York, according to an indictment that was recently made public.
According to an indictment released on August 22 by Damian Williams, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Bond is accused of channeling over $400,000 into her campaign through a suspicious “consulting agreement.” The funds allegedly originated from a Bahamas-based cryptocurrency exchange, though the indictment does not specify the exchange. At the time, Bond was in a relationship with Salame, who was associated with FTX, a crypto exchange founded by Sam Bankman-Fried. Notably, FTX has also faced accusations of campaign finance violations.
At a Trade Group board meeting, according to federal authorities, Bond acknowledged that the exchange had contributed to the funding of her campaign. Furthermore, Christia M. Curtis, the acting assistant director of the FBI, claimed that Bond had purposefully misled Congress regarding the source of the monies. It has also been revealed that she used further dishonest methods to hide the real source of her campaign funding.
Bond’s purported acts have sparked serious questions about the legitimacy of her campaign and the impact of cryptocurrencies on politics as the inquiry progresses.