DOJ targets $16 million in Binance account tied to Sam Bankman-Fried bribery case
The US Department of Justice filed a civil forfeiture complaint to seize approximately $16 million in assets from a Binance account linked to an FTX bribery case. The account, created in November 2023, holds various digital assets and received daily deposits in stablecoins and Bitcoin, which were converted to other assets. Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried allegedly approved a $40 million bribe to Chinese officials in November 2021 to unfreeze Alameda Research’s crypto trading accounts, which held about $1 billion in crypto. After the accounts were unfrozen, Bankman-Fried authorized significant crypto payments for the bribe, which were laundered through private wallets. This case is part of broader recovery efforts targeting over $3 billion in assets related to FTX criminal activities, with FTX pursuing lawsuits against Binance, Changpeng Zhao, and others. Skepticism exists regarding the recovery of these funds, with expectations of only 10% to 20% of claims being settled.
