Sam Bankman-Fried, founder and CEO if the cryptocurrency exchange FTX,  is currently jailed and awaiting trial on conspiracy and fraud. Once one of the riches people in cryptocurrency, Bankman-Fried was the second biggest individual donor to the Democratic party ahead of the 2022 midterms. Today’s guest says Bankman-Fried was trying to buy politicians on both sides of the aisle.

William Black, an expert in white-collar crime, public finance, and regulation, tells A Public Affair, “he didn’t give overwhelmingly to Democrats. He personally gave to Democrats, but he made sure that his top associates gave largely to Republicans.”  He goes on to say, “these are people who control a seemingly legitimate entity and use it as camouflage, a weapon and a shield. His enterprise was a fraud from the beginning.”

Black joins us to explain what happened with FTX and it’s sister company Alameda.

William Black is an American lawyer, academic, author, and a former bank regulator. He is the author of The Best Way to Rob a Bank is to Own One: How Corporate Executives and Politicians Looted the S&L Industry. Black was the deputy staff director of the national commission that investigated the cause of the savings and loan debacle.

Attribution: Cointelegraph accessed on wikimedia.

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