Wife of Former FTX Executive Faces Trial Over Alleged Misuse of Exchange Funds for Campaign

The U.S. Justice Department has continued investigating FTX’s political donation network since the exchange collapsed in November 2022. Michelle Bond, the wife of former FTX Digital Markets co-CEO Ryan Salame, is accused of obtaining $400,000 from FTX through a sham consulting agreement and using the money in her 2022 Republican primary campaign for New York’s 1st Congressional District. The case concerns rules governing corporate funds and candidates’ self-financing.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced four campaign finance charges on August 22, 2024. On June 24, 2026, U.S. District Judge George B. Daniels of the Southern District of New York rejected Bond’s motion to dismiss the indictment. She argued that prosecutors had offered not to prosecute her in exchange for Salame’s guilty plea. The court scheduled her trial for November 9, 2026, and Bond has pleaded not guilty.