US politicians are asked to return all donations from FTX

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The US Department of Justice has sent letters to members of Congress asking them to voluntarily return funds received from the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX.

Republican Senator Bob Latta's officeLatta) from Ohio confirmed the receipt of a letter from the Ministry of Justice. In October 2022, Latta received $2,900 for his re-election campaign from former FTX Global Markets CEO Ryan Salame. 

Total amount of donations givento various candidates, mainly Republicans, amounted to about $23 million. Senator Latta’s office noted: the amount was transferred to the Ministry of Justice at the first request, and the request itself was received at the beginning of the year.

Some politicians such as Mark MolinaroMarc Molinaro and Elise Stefanik from New York, as well as Brian Fitzpatrick from Pennsylvania, also returned the donated funds, and this money is now frozen in the accounts of the Ministry of Justice.

“The funds were transferred in order topeople who were defrauded could receive some compensation for their losses,” said the office of Congresswoman Lori Chavez-DeRemer, who also received money from FTX.

Back in February, FTX Group sent outletters to politicians demanding the return of tens of millions of dollars that they received from the cryptocurrency exchange as donations by February 28. According to reports in the American media, we are talking about an amount of $93 million. However, there are also politicians who have stated that they have already donated to charity. In response, the bankruptcy trustees of FTX warned: lawyers will do everything to return the funds. 

Meanwhile, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried(Sam Bankman-Fried) filed a motion to dismiss 10 of the 13 counts, including fraud, conspiracy and foreign bribery. The prosecutor's office must respond to Bankman-Fried's motion by the end of the month.