Ryan Salame, former CEO of FTX, faces possible sanctions after admitting to making false statements in a 2023 guilty plea to campaign finance and illegal money transfers charges.
U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan, who is overseeing the case, expressed concern about Salame's previous testimony, in which he denied any promises from prosecutors to secure his guilty plea.
Concerns about perjury
At a September 12 court hearing in Manhattan, Salame admitted that he lied to the court during his plea hearing last year. He had previously testified that prosecutors had made no promises to secure his guilty plea.
However, Salame later claimed that through his lawyer, he was informed that the government would drop its investigation into his partner, Michelle Bond , if he agreed to plead guilty. This revelation contradicted his previous testimony, raising concerns about perjury.
Judge Kaplan expressed considerable frustration with Salame’s admission, noting that it created a “major problem.” He explained that the false testimony could undermine the validity of Salame’s conviction and sentence because it was based on inaccurate information.
Kaplan insisted that Salame had misled him by initially denying any promises from prosecutors in exchange for a guilty plea, an action that could have resulted in legal consequences — including severe sanctions.
The judge, who previously sentenced Salame to 90 months in prison for his Vai in the FTX collapse, said he would need time to determine the appropriate next steps. Additionally, in an unrelated development, Kaplan ordered Salame to serve his sentence on October 11 instead of October 13 as originally scheduled because that day is a Sunday.
Charges against Bond
The complications surrounding Salame’s case grew after his partner, Michelle Bond, a former candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives, was indicted. Prosecutors allege that Salame and Bond made illegal contributions to Bond’s 2022 campaign.
According to court documents, Salame allegedly transferred large sums of money from FTX into Bond's personal bank account, which was then used to fund her political campaign.
Bond was indicted on campaign finance violations in August, a development that came shortly after Salame’s legal team asked for his guilty plea to be overturned. His lawyers argued that federal prosecutors had not honored a deal to end the investigation into Bond.
However, shortly after Bond was indicted, Salame withdrew his request to vacate his guilty plea, stating that he no longer intended to pursue that course.
Judge Kaplan ordered Salame to appear in court on September 12 to clarify the discrepancies in his statements. Despite the new developments, Salame has maintained that he will not seek to rescind his guilty plea.
Salame's legal team has not commented on the latest developments in his case, while Judge Kaplan said he would take time to XEM what actions are necessary, including possible sanctions.
