The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a civil forfeiture complaint to seize approximately $16 million in cryptocurrency held in a Binance account.
What Happened: This action follows a year-long investigation into funds allegedly linked to bribes authorized by Sam Bankman-Fried, former CEO of the defunct crypto exchange FTX.
Court documents detail that the funds in question include tokens such as Internet Computer, Avalanche (AVAX), Ripple, Cardano and Solana, all believed to stem from illicit transactions.
Notably, over half of the holdings, valued at $8.5 million, are in Solana, which has risen in value alongside the recent crypto market recovery, bringing the account's total value to $16 million.
The origins of this case trace back to November 2021, when Bankman-Fried allegedly directed a $40 million payment from Alameda Research wallets to bribe Chinese officials in an effort to unfreeze $1 billion in crypto assets on two China-based exchanges.
The DOJ alleges the funds passed through several private wallets before being deposited into a Binance account.
Due to its "suspicious activity," the account was flagged by authorities for almost daily deposits of stablecoins and Bitcoin, which were quickly converted to other assets through over-the-counter trades-patterns that led the DOJ to connect the assets with the bribery scheme.
Why It Matters: This case adds another dimension to the fallout from FTX's collapse, which already saw Bankman-Fried convicted on seven criminal counts and sentenced to 25 years.
His legal team is currently appealing the conviction, claiming trial bias. Initially, the bribery allegations were part of his indictment but were separated from the primary trial, which focused on fraud and conspiracy charges.
In a related development, the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CySEC) extended the suspension of FTX's European division, FTX Europe, for another six months, prohibiting it from offering services, advertising, or accepting new clients until at least May 30, 2025.
This suspension, the fourth since CySEC first halted FTX Europe's operations in November 2022 following FTX's U.S. bankruptcy, allows the platform to finalize transactions and return funds to existing clients.
Meanwhile, in the United States, the DOJ is seeking to reclaim up to $13.25 million in political donations tied to former FTX executives.
Judge Lewis Kaplan, overseeing the criminal cases against Bankman-Fried and his associates, recently granted an extension until January 15, 2025, for the government to negotiate with political action committees (PACs) involved in these contributions.
