In new charges unveiled in the US, officials accuse the entrepreneur of authorising a bribe of "at least $40m" (£32.5m) to try to gain access to trading accounts frozen by Chinese authorities, reports BBC.

The allegation adds to the fraud case charged against him after his firm collapsed last year.

Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty to those claims earlier this year, reports BBC.

He is currently under house arrest.

While awaiting trial, he is currently in the residence of his parents in California.

The updated indictment says Mr Bankman-Fried authorised the bribe after Chinese authorities froze accounts holding roughly $1bn (£811m) worth of cryptocurrency that belonged to his trading firm, Alameda Research, reports BBC.

The accounts were released after the transfer, which went to a private cryptocurrency wallet, according to the filing.

The alleged bribe followed months of other efforts to access the funds, which Mr Bankman-Fried believed were frozen as part of an investigation into another trading firm, it said.