Ex-Congressional candidate and FTX executive’s romantic partner indicted on campaign finance charges

NEW YORK (AP) — A one-time Congressional candidate and domestic partner of a convicted FTX executive was arrested Thursday on campaign finance charges.

Michelle Bond, 45, of Potomac, Maryland, was released on $1 million bail after a brief court appearance in Manhattan federal court to face charges that she conspired with Ryan Salame, the ex-CEO of FTX Digital Markets, to cause unlawful campaign contributions in connection with her unsuccessful run for Congress in 2022.

Her lawyer did not immediately comment. A spokesperson for prosecutors did not return a request for comment.

A day earlier, Salame, who pleaded guilty to campaign finance and money-transmitting charges, asked a judge to nullify his plea, saying prosecutors had suggested that Bond would not be arrested if he entered the plea and concluded his case.

Salame said in court papers that he has satisfied all the requirements of his plea deal, including paying $500,000 in fines, $6 million in forfeiture and $5.5 million in restitution. He was sentenced in May to 8 1/2 years in prison. He described Bond as his domestic partner and the mother of his 8-month-old child.

Bond was charged with conspiracy to cause unlawful campaign contributions, causing and accepting excessive campaign contributions, causing and receiving an unlawful corporate contribution and causing and receiving a conduit contributions. Each of the charges carries a potential sentence of up to five years in prison.

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