The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed a civil forfeiture complaint to seize cryptocurrency worth $16 million held in a Binance account. This action is a result of an ongoing investigation into alleged bribery schemes involving FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF). The DOJ claims that SBF intended to pay Chinese officials a bribe of $40 million to facilitate the release of $1 billion worth of crypto belonging to FTX’s sister company, Alameda Research, which had been frozen on two China-based digital asset exchanges.
If convicted, SBF faces a 25-year prison sentence due to multiple fraud and conspiracy charges related to the collapse of FTX.
