Former Alameda Research Boss Sam Trabucco Reemerges to Defend Ryan Salame Before Sentencing

May 16, 2024 Bitcoin.com

Ex-FTX exec Ryan Salame asks for no more than 18 months in prison

May 15, 2024 Coin Telegraph

The former FTX Digital Markets co-CEO pleaded guilty to two felonies and was one of the only figures connected with the defunct crypto exchange who didn’t testify at SBF’s trial.

Lawyers representing Ryan Salame have requested the former co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets be sentenced to no more than 18 months in prison.

In a May 14 filing with the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Salame’s legal team argued that in addition to the “substantial restitution and forfeiture obligations” offered by the former FTX executive, a sentence of no more than 18 months in prison was “appropriate.” Salame pleaded guilty to conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business and engaging in campaign finance fraud in September 2023 and is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Lewis Kaplan on May 28.

“[Salame] had absolutely no knowledge that the four people at the center of Alameda and FTX had conspired to lie and steal from their customers,” his lawyers claimed in the May 14 sentencing memo. “Ryan stole from no one. He did not lie to customers. And he was duped, as was everyone else, into believing that the companies were legitimate, solvent, and wildly profitable.”

Former FTX exec Ryan Salame to give up $5.9M Bahamas property

May 3, 2024 Coin Telegraph

Judge to Sentence Former FTX Executive Ryan Salame in Late May

April 10, 2024 Bitcoin.com

After Sam Bankman-Fried’s Sentencing, Spotlight Turns to Former FTX Associates

April 2, 2024 Bitcoin.com

Sam Bankman-Fried’s Former FTX Co-CEO To Plead Guilty to Criminal Crypto Charges: Report

September 7, 2023 The Daily Hodl

Ex-FTX exec Salame won’t testify in alleged illegal campaign donation case

August 15, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Coin Telegraph

Ryan Salame plans to plead the Fifth if he is asked to testify at Sam Bankman-Fried's criminal trial, according to United States prosecutors.

Former FTX executive Ryan Salame will reportedly avoid testifying about his role in FTX’s alleged illegal campaign donation scheme if he is subpoenaed in Sam Bankman-Fried’s criminal trial.

Lawyers representing the former FTX co-CEO said that Salame will be unavailable as a witness to the case, according to an Aug. 14 motion filed by United States federal prosecutors.

“Salame’s attorney has represented that if subpoenaed, Salame would invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination,” the prosecutor’s motion states, adding that Salame would be “unavailable as a witness.”

From the US government's motion in limine in the Sam Bankman-Fried criminal trial: "[Ryan] Salame is unavailable as a witness... Salame’s attorney has represented that if subpoenaed, Salame would invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination." pic.twitter.com/NrB5d6PJDH
— Molly White (@molly0xFFF) August 15, 2023

Salame, a former co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets with close ties to Sam Bankman-Fried, donated more than $24 million to Republican campaigns, according to Open Secrets.

The former FTX executive is reportedly facing possible finance campaign violation allegations of his own and is considering a plea deal with the federal prosecutors.

He was a substantial beneficiary of loans and payments given to a number of the top executives of FTX by way of the now-bankrupt firms’ trading house Alameda Research.

Salame had his house searched by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation in April. However it remains unknown what exactly they were looking for.

He was considered a close business partner of Bankman-Fried, who is currently imprisoned and is facing fraud charges in his upcoming trial in October.

Magazine: Deposit risk: What do crypto exchanges really do with your money?

Ryan Salame