Former US congressional candidate Michelle Bond has been accused of illegal campaign fundraising.

Former congressional candidate Michelle Bond has been indicted by Damian Williams, Attorney for the Southern District of New York in United States, for allegedly illegal campaign contributions. Bond ran unsuccessfully as a Republican candidate for a seat in the First District of New York House in 2022. Prosecutors accuse her of working with former FTX executive Ryan Salame to obtain $400,000 from a cryptocurrency exchange in the Bahamas through a fake consulting protocol and use the funds for the campaign. Bond declared the amount as "consulting income" in its financial disclosures, but was accused of covering up the source of the funds and lying to Congress. Bond faces four counts, including "conspiracy to cause illegal campaign contributions," which carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison. Salame had previously been sentenced for illegal political donations and running an unlicensed money transmission business, and tried unsuccessfully to block an investigation into Bond.