Former FTX Exec’s Wife Seeks Dismissal of Indictment
On Wednesday, May 7, 2025, Michelle Bond, the romantic partner of convicted former FTX executive Ryan Salame, filed a memorandum in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, seeking to dismiss an indictment against her, suppress evidence, request an evidentiary hearing, and dismiss one count of the indictment as multiplicitous.
The filing alleges that the government failed to honor a promise made during Salame’s plea negotiations, which induced his guilty plea.
Bond, a 45-year-old mother of three and former cryptocurrency advocate, faces four counts related to alleged campaign finance violations during her 2022 congressional campaign for New York’s First Congressional District. The charges include conspiracy to cause an unlawful political contribution, causing and accepting excessive campaign contributions, causing and receiving an unlawful corporate contribution, and causing and receiving a conduit contribution. These charges stem from her eight-week Republican primary campaign, which she lost in 2022.
The memorandum claims that the government promised to drop its investigation into Bond if Salame pleaded guilty to charges related to his role at FTX, a cryptocurrency exchange that collapsed in November 2022. Salame, the former CEO of FTX Digital Asset Markets, pleaded guilty on September 7, 2023, and received a seven-and-a-half-year sentence, the second-highest among five indicted FTX executives.
According to the filing, the government’s assurance that Bond would not be prosecuted was a key factor in Salame’s decision to accept the plea deal. The document cites communications between prosecutors and defense attorneys, including an April 28, 2023, video call where prosecutors allegedly stated that resolving Salame’s case would conclude the investigation into Bond.
Bond’s legal team argues that she relied on this promise, believing the investigation into her was closed. As a result, she ceased efforts to preserve evidence and spoke freely during a September 13, 2023, surety interview related to Salame’s bail and in testimony during a family law action on May 18, 2023. The memorandum asserts that the government misled Bond by not disclosing that it was still investigating her, leading her to make statements that prosecutors later used against her. Bond now seeks to suppress these statements, arguing they were obtained under false pretenses.
The filing further contends that Bond has standing to enforce the promise made to Salame as a third-party beneficiary of his plea agreement. It cites legal precedents, including cases from the Second and Fourth Circuits, which suggest that third parties can enforce plea agreements if they were intended beneficiaries. The memorandum argues that the government’s failure to honor its promise warrants dismissal of the indictment. Alternatively, Bond requests an evidentiary hearing to examine the scope and nature of the promises made to her and Salame, supported by evidence such as government notes and attorney correspondence.
Additionally, the memorandum seeks to dismiss Count Four of the indictment, which charges Bond with causing and receiving a conduit contribution, as multiplicitous. It argues that this count duplicates charges in Counts Two and Three, which involve excessive campaign contributions and an unlawful corporate contribution, respectively. The filing claims that all three counts are based on the same financial transactions—approximately $948,544 allegedly received from Salame and FTX—and that charging them separately risks prejudicing the jury by suggesting multiple crimes.
Bond’s background includes significant roles in the cryptocurrency industry. She served as CEO of the Association for Digital Asset Markets from September 2020 and provided consulting services to FTX from February 2021 until its collapse. Her congressional campaign, supported by Salame, focused on advocating for digital asset regulation.
Please contact BlockTribune for access to a copy of this filing.
