U.S. prosecutors probe ex-FTX executive Salame for campaign finance violations -WSJ

NEW YORK, July 11 (Reuters) – Former FTX cryptocurrency exchange executive Ryan Salame is under investigation by federal prosecutors for possible violations of campaign finance law, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Prosecutors are looking at money Salame gave his girlfriend, Michelle Bond, who ran unsuccessfully last year for the Republican nomination for a congressional seat in New York, as well as loans Bond made to her campaign, the Journal reported.

A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan declined to comment.

Neither Salame nor Bond has been accused of wrongdoing. Their lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The Journal said the probe is separate from the criminal case against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who has pleaded not guilty to stealing billions of customer funds ahead of the now-bankrupt exchange’s collapse last year. He is set to go on trial on Oct. 2.

Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama

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