Former FTX head, Sam Bankman-Fried, pleaded not guilty in Manhattan federal court to new charges of bribing a Chinese official to unfreeze $1 billion worth of crypto, Reuters reports.
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Bankman-Fried's lawyer, Mark Cohen, said he's client is planning to challenge the new charges without going into details. The FTX Founder also pleaded not guilty to eight counts of fraud for allegedly stealing billions in customer funds through his hedge fund Alameda Research.
The US prosecutors claim Bankman-Fried authorized a $40 million worth of crypto transaction to a private wallet from Alameda's trading account way before FTX went bankrupt. It's unclear for whom the transaction was made. Later, Bankman-Fried authorized another multi-million order to "complete" the bribe, the government says.
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