Salame, former FTX executive, sentenced to more than 7 years in prison

Another former FTX executive has been jailed for his role in the cryptocurrency giant's implosion in late 2022.

Ryan Salame, co-CEO of FTX's Bahamian subsidiary, was sentenced to 90 months in prison, US federal prosecutors announced.

Salame – who was a top lieutenant of Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the bankrupt crypto exchange – pleaded guilty in September last year to violating political campaign finance laws and exploiting an illegal money transfer business.

“Salame’s involvement in two serious federal crimes undermined public confidence in U.S. elections and the integrity of the financial system,” Damian Williams, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement.

A jury found Salame guilty in November last year of seven counts of fraud and conspiracy stemming from FTX's failure. Prosecutors called it one of the largest financial frauds in U.S. history.

Salame's sentence was longer than the five to seven years prosecutors requested.

In addition to the prison term, he was sentenced to three years of supervised release and ordered to pay more than $6 million in forfeiture and more than $5 million in restitution.

Salame was one of four former top executives at Bankman-Fried's companies to plead guilty to the charges, alongside former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison, former FTX technology chief Gary Wang, and former FTX head of engineering Nishad Singh.

FTX was one of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges before its demise, making Bankman-Fried a business celebrity and attracting millions of customers who used the platform to buy and trade cryptocurrencies.

Rumors of financial difficulties sparked a run on deposits in 2022, precipitating the company's implosion and exposing Bankman-Fried's crimes.

He was convicted last year by a New York jury of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, after a trial that detailed how he used clients' money to buy property , make political donations and invest it in other investments.