Former FTX executive Ryan Salame will not provide testimony under oath about his involvement in the FTX’s alleged illegal campaign donation scheme if he is asked in Sam Bankman-Fried’s criminal trial, according to prosecutors.
The US federal prosecutors submitted the motion on August 14, and according to that lawyer representing the former FTX co-CEO stated, Salame will be unavailable as a witness in the case.
The prosecutor’s motion states, “Salame’s attorney has represented that if subpoenaed, Salame would invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination.” Adding to that, Salame would be “unavailable as a witness.”
Salame, the former co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets, has contributed more than $24 million to Republican campaigns. He reportedly helped Sam Bankman-Fried, the other co-founder of FTX, in a bid to shape crypto policy in Washington.
Salame is open to a plea agreement with the federal prosecutors despite being accused of possible financial campaign violations of his own. He was a substantial beneficiary of loans and payments made to several of FTX’s top executives through the trading house Alameda Research, which is now bankrupt. In April, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation also searched Salame’s house, but what they are looking for is unclear.
Also Read: FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried Faces Dual Criminal Trials
