In court filings (filed on 3/28/23), FTX Founder Sam Bankman Fried (SBF) was accused of bribing Chinese government officials with $40M USD in an effort to unfreeze Alameda Research Cryptocurrency trading accounts from two of China’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges which collectively contained approximately $1 billion worth of cryptocurrency.

SBF, the defendant, discussed with others and ultimately agreed to and directed a multi-million-dollar bribe to seek to unfreeze the Accounts. In particular, Bankman-Fried authorized and directed the illicit transfer of cryptocurrency intended to induce and influence one or more Chinese government officials to unfreeze the Accounts. … As a result, in or about November 2021, Bankman-Fried caused a bribe payment of cryptocurrency then worth approximately $40 million to be transferred from Alameda’s main trading account to a private cryptocurrency wallet. After confirmation that the Accounts were unfrozen, Bankman-Fried authorized the transfer of additional tens of millions of dollars in cryptocurrency to complete the bribe.