White House officials met with Sam Bankman-Fried four times this year

Alleged crypto swindler Sam Bankman-Fried reportedly met with President Biden’s aides at least four times this year before he was arrested on fraud charges. 

Bankman-Fried took meetings with senior White House advisor Steve Ricchetti on at least three occasions in 2022 and met with the 80-year-old president’s deputy chief of staff Bruce Reed once in the last year, Bloomberg reported on Thursday. 

The disgraced founder of cryptocurrency exchange FTX met with Ricchetti, who serves as a counselor to the president, as recently as Sept. 8, according to Bloomberg. 

Bankman-Fried’s younger brother Gabriel also reportedly participated in a meeting on May 13.

The report further demonstrates the close political connections Bankman-Fried developed in Washington before his stunning downfall. 

The Washington Free Beacon reported in November that Bankman-Fried was welcomed to the West Wing for two meetings with Ricchetti on April 22 and May 11.

The former crypto mogul is accused of defrauding investors out of at least $1.8 billion. 

Earlier this month, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre refused to say whether Biden would ask his aides to return 2020 campaign contributions from the accused cryptocurrency con man.

Bankman-Fried, 30, was a major Democratic Party donor before the collapse of FTX, giving $50,000 to the Biden Victory Fund in October 2020 and another $2,800 directly to the Biden campaign that same month, according to Federal Election Commission records.

Bankman-Fried also spent $10 million backing Biden’s 2020 campaign through indirect donations. 

Ahead of November’s midterm elections, Bankman-Fried donated some $39.2 million to congressional Democrats – a total bested only by left-wing billionaire George Soros.Federal prosecutors in the Southern District of New York charged Bankman-Fried earlier this month with eight criminal counts, including conspiracy to commit campaign finance violations.