Former FTX Exec Ryan Salame Talking to Prosecutors About Plea Deal: Bloomberg

Former co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets Ryan Salame is in talks with federal prosecutors to plead guilty to criminal charges related to the collapse of the crypto exchange, according to a Bloomberg report, citing people familiar with the case.

Salame, a prominent Republican donor who also handled FTX's political donations, could enter a plea as soon as September to charges including campaign finance law violations, according to Bloomberg’s sources. It was not known whether he would cooperate with prosecutors and testify against FTX co-founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried.

Other top execs at FTX, including Gary Wang, Caroline Ellison and Nishad Singh, have already plead guilty to charges in the FTX case and will be part of the government’s case against Bankman-Fried.

The Wall Street Journal reported last month that federal prosecutors were investigating Salame over possible violations of campaign finance law related to his girlfriend's congressional campaign last year.

Salame’s lawyer did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Meanwhile, in a letter Tuesday, prosecutors in the Bankman-Fried case said they still planned to argue that Bankman-Fried conducted an "illegal campaign finance" scheme when he goes to trial in October.