Spouse of former FTX govt seeks to preclude her husband’s responsible plea
In a Friday submitting with the US District Courtroom for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) over marketing campaign finance fees, Michelle Bond’s authorized crew requested the court docket to contemplate precluding proof associated to former FTX Digital Markets co-CEO Ryan Salame, her husband who’s presently serving a 90-month sentence after he pleaded responsible in 2023.
Bond faces marketing campaign finance fees alleging that her unsuccessful 2022 congressional run in New York was partially funded by contributions from FTX facilitated by Salame. As a part of the filings this week, Bond requested the court docket to exclude proof of her husband’s responsible plea and “associated plea supplies,” during which the previous govt admitted to creating “political contributions in [his] identify that had been funded by transfers from the financial institution accounts” of an entity tied to FTX.
“The Courtroom ought to preclude the federal government from introducing or referring to Mr. Salame’s responsible plea or any associated plea supplies, as a result of their minimal probative worth is considerably outweighed by the chance of unfair prejudice to Ms. Bond,” mentioned the submitting.
Bond’s legal professionals added:
“[…] Mr. Salame’s plea supplies lack any probative worth as to Ms. Bond’s guilt, data, or intent. Mr. Salame’s plea is an admission of his personal guilt, not proof of Ms. Bond’s frame of mind or participation in any charged offense.”
The movement additionally requested the court docket embody data associated to Bond’s “contemporaneous divorce and custody proceedings,” arguing that although she and Salame weren’t married on the time of the alleged crime, the previous FTX govt was not an “odd ‘particular person’ donor” contributing to her marketing campaign.
Associated: US Senate unanimously adopts decision opposing clemency for SBF
The prison case is without doubt one of the final involving people tied to the defunct crypto trade following its 2022 collapse. Salame, former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried and former Alameda Analysis CEO Caroline Ellison had been all sentenced to jail for his or her function within the misuse of buyer funds and associated fees.
Former congressman ordered to pay $35,000 over Kalshi guess
George Santos, a former New York Home consultant who was expelled from Congress in 2023, was ordered to pay a $17,500 civil financial penalty and $17,570 in disgorgement from income earned over bets positioned on prediction markets platform Kalshi. The order from the US Commodity Futures Buying and selling Fee (CFTC) stemmed from Santos buying and selling on occasion contracts betting on his look on the 2026 State of the Union deal with in Washington, DC.
“Whereas shopping for and promoting positions on this market, Santos posted on social media about his plans to attend or not attend the SOTU,” mentioned the CFTC. “In his social media posts, Santos made a collection of fabric misrepresentations and omissions about whether or not he would attend the SOTU. After these posts, the SOTU contract costs moved in a course that was favorable to Santos’ positions which allowed him to make over $17,500.”
February X put up about his State of the Union attendance. Supply: George Santos
Santos is barred from buying and selling on prediction market platforms for 3 years as a part of the order. He was additionally beforehand sentenced to 87 months in jail for wire fraud and aggravated id theft in 2025, however served solely three months earlier than his sentence was commuted by US President Donald Trump.
US solider accused of creating $400,000 Polymarket guess seeks to dismiss fees
Gannon Ken Van Dyke is a US soldier who faces fees for allegedly making greater than $400,000 on Polymarket occasion contracts utilizing nonpublic data tied to a army operation involving the elimination of Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in January. He was concerned within the operation eradicating Maduro, in keeping with the US Justice Division, and allegedly used insider data to guess whether or not the Venezuelan president could be faraway from energy, resulting in prison fees in April.
In a Friday SDNY submitting, Van Dyke’s authorized crew filed a 51-page memo in help of a movement to dismiss the indictment primarily based on completely different authorized theories, together with that the Commodity Alternate Act (CEA) on the middle of three of the costs was “ambiguous” in treating occasion contracts as “swaps.”
Though the CFTC beneath Chair Michael Selig has claimed that the company has “unique jurisdiction” over prediction markets on the idea that occasion contracts are handled as “swaps,” Van Dyke’s legal professionals mentioned the dearth of readability was enough to dismiss among the fees.
“If Congress, govt department companies, and courts all discover the ‘swap’ definition ambiguous, how can odd residents have honest discover that prediction market wagers are coated by the CEA?” mentioned the submitting. “They can’t.”
The case is predicted to have important implications for lawmakers and authorities officers utilizing prediction markets. Trump’s teleprompter operator reportedly made greater than $100,000 utilizing Kalshi occasion contracts associated to the president’s speeches.
Based mostly on a schedule filed in June, Van Dyke is probably taking a look at a trial starting in late 2026 or early 2027. He has pleaded not responsible to all fees.
Journal: Right here’s why the CLARITY Act’s ethics deal could also be so exhausting to achieve
