Former FTX exec’s house raided by FBI

FBI searched the residence of Ryan Salame, who served as the former co-CEO of collapsed FTX. This comes as the executive comes under more investigation for his close advising position to Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF).

The New York Times reported on April 27 that the FBI searched Salame’s $4 million house in Potomac, Maryland. The former co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets reportedly had a strong working relationship with Sam Bankman-Fried.

Salame was a significant recipient of questionable loans and payments sent to some of the senior executives of FTX using the trading company Alameda Research, which is now defunct.

Salame was the fourth-largest receiver of these payments, receiving $87 million in compensation throughout the settlement. While previous engineering head Nishad Singh and co-founder Zixiao “Gary” Wang earned $587 million and $246 million, respectively, Bankman-Fried got $2.2 billion.

According to documents submitted to a court in the Bahamas on Dec. 14, 2022, Salame was the first FTX or Alameda Research executive to start aiding authorities with their investigation. On Nov. 9, Salame informed the Securities Commission of the Bahamas (SCB) about FTX’s moving client monies to its sibling trading business, Alameda Research.

In addition, Salame disclosed to the SCB that the monies were intended to “cover financial losses of Alameda” and that the transfer was “not allowed or consented to by their clients.” Additionally, he disclosed that Bankman-Fried, Wang, and Singh were the only individuals with the necessary access to move client assets to Alameda.

According to Open Secrets, an organization that monitors government donations, Salame was one of the most influential political contributors in the 2022 election. Through more than 200 individual contributions, Salame gave over $23 million to Republican candidates and campaigns.