FTX collapse: Ryan Salame blames Sam Bankman-Fried.
Ryan Salame's lawyers emphasize that he was not part of Sam Bankman-Fried's fraud and that the collapse of FTX wiped out nearly his entire net worth.
In a statement made by Ryan Salame's lawyers on Tuesday, it was stated that the former FTX executive, who pleaded guilty to election fraud charges in September, requested a pardon for a period of 18 months.
While working for FTX and Alameda, Ryan Salame oversaw wire transfers and fiat currency exchanges for FTX clients, used Alameda money to make political contributions, and oversaw charity work in the Bahamas.
His lawyers argue in the documents that Salame played a more operational and less central role in the fraud at the shuttered companies. They also point to his cooperation with law enforcement, his sincere remorse, his efforts to cope with his drug addiction problems, and the significant financial and personal losses he had already suffered as a result of the stock market crash.
According to his lawyers, Salame was completely unaware of a conspiracy between FTX and four individuals at the Alameda facility to deceive his customers and extort money from them. Ryan Salame has never stolen. “He did not lie to clients,” his lawyers wrote in a document. said.
“He was deceived. “When he finally caught on to the FTX scam, he was the first to report it to Bahamian authorities.”
His attorneys say Ryan Salame provided the records to the U.S. Attorney's Office without a grand jury subpoena and that the materials he gave to Bahamian authorities launched the investigation into #FTX .
Ryan Salame's lawyers also argue that his relationship with Bankman-Fried and FTX's legacy means he could never seek another job without that relationship becoming a hindrance, and that “the incessant media criticism of FTX and everything else in Bankman-Fried's orbit He claims that “he ensured that [Salame] was punished for the rest of his life.”