US government seeks return of $13 million in political donations from former FTX executives

The U.S. government is negotiating for the return of up to $13.25 million in political donations made by former FTX executives, according to a new filing in federal court. 

The filing, in which the government requested until January 15 to continue negotiations with several political action committees (PACs), was approved by Judge Lewis Kaplan, the judge overseeing the criminal case against former FTX Sam Bankman-Fried and his subordinates.

The government requested more time to "discuss with [the PACs] the forfeitability of funds these entities received from the defendant and his co-conspirators," and named several groups: Senate Majority PAC, Future Forward PAC and Future Forward USA Action, Emily’s List/Women Vote, and GMI PAC. The groups are generally aligned with Democrats, or support liberal causes. 

Data from OpenSecrets shows around $13.25 million in donations were directed to these groups from either Bankman-Fried or former FTX head of engineering Nishad Singh, who testified that he made the donations at Bankman-Fried's request, sometimes signing blank checks to be used for donations. Singh was recently sentenced to time served plus three years of supervised release in a successful bid to avoid prison after testifying against his onetime friend and superior, Bankman-Fried. 

The Future Forward PAC received $1 million in Singh's name and $5 million in Bankman-Fried's name, records show. The GMI PAC received $2 million, while the Senate Majority PAC (Democrats have held the Senate since January 2021) received $2 million from Singh and $1 million from Bankman-Fried. Women Vote received $2.25 million from Singh. Altogether, up to $13.25 million was donated to these groups—and perhaps more, if donations were ascribed to a different donor. 

Several politicians and PACs have returned donations made by Bankman-Fried following the collapse of FTX. CBS News previously reported that "a majority" of the organizations that received Bankman-Fried's donations planned to donate the funds elsewhere.