Sam Bankman-Fried news-Page 4
FTX debtors seek subpoenas for inner circle of Sam Bankman-Fried
A motion filed in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware seeks to glean valuable information from the likes of Gabriel Bankman-Fried and Barbara Fried, the brother and mother of the FTX founder. According to the filing, FTX and its debtors are pursuing estate assets belonging to the company and investors. However, not all Bankman-Fried’s inner circle has replied with requests for information. The filing indicated that legal representatives of Zhe “Constance” Wang, COO of FTX Trading, and Sam’s father, Joseph Bankman, are the only parties that have agreed to cooperate with information sharing. After filing for …
Adoption / Feb. 1, 2023
Sam Bankman-Fried's $250M bail guarantors to be made public, says judge
The two people who helped former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried with his $250 million bail bond could have their identities revealed next month after a recent ruling by United States District Judge Lewis Kaplan. According to the Jan. 30 filing, Kaplan granted the application to reveal the names of the two individuals to the public. However, Judge Kaplan has given Bankman-Fried's legal counsel until Feb. 7 to appeal. Bankman-Fried was released from custody in December 2022 after two unknown people signed on as sureties for the $250 million bond along with Bankman-Fried's parents, Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried. Eight major …
Business / Jan. 31, 2023
Justice Dept defends motion to bar SBF from accessing FTX, Alameda assets
United States prosecutors in the criminal case against former FTX chief executive officer Sam Bankman-Fried have released text and email messages from SBF to current CEO John Ray. In court documents for the Southern District of New York released on Jan. 30, the Justice Department responded to a motion from Bankman-Fried’s legal team attempting to remove some of the proposed modifications for his bail conditions, which included barring contact with former and current FTX employees. According to prosecutors, SBF attempted to contact both current FTX CEO John Ray and FTX US general counsel Ryne Miller. In an email to Ray …
Regulation / Jan. 30, 2023
Aussie regulator flagged concerns about FTX months before collapse: Report
Australia’s financial regulator reportedly raised concerns over FTX’s local Australian subsidiary as much as eight months before the exchange met its untimely end in November. According to documents obtained by Guardian Australia, officers of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) were concerned about the way in which FTX Australia was operating as it was able to obtain a license in the country through a company takeover. As per a previous report from Cointelegraph, FTX acquired its Australian financial services license (AFSL) by taking over financial institution IFS Markets in December 2021 before opening up for business months later in …
Regulation / Jan. 30, 2023
Sam Bankman-Fried seeks to access FTX funds
Sam Bankman-Fried's legal team is seeking to remove a bail condition that prevented him from accessing FTX's funds, according to court filings from Jan. 28. A letter from Bankman-Fried's lawyer, Mark Cohen, to United States District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan stated that Bankman-Fried should have access to assets held by FTX, claiming the client was not involved in previous unauthorized transactions. FTX and FTX US have sought over $659 million in unauthorized transfers amid the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange in November 2022, according to Nansen data reported by Cointelegraph. Bankman-Fried denied any involvement in the transactions. As per the …
Business / Jan. 28, 2023
US prosecutors seek to ban SBF from Signal after alleged witness contact
Federal prosecutors have requested that former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried's (SBF) bail conditions are modified to prevent further alleged attempts at influencing witnesses’ testimonies. Court documents filed on Jan. 27 revealed that The Department of Justice (DOJ) have asked U.S. District Court Judge LewiKaplan to ban Bankman-Fried from communicating with “current or former employees” of FTX or Alameda. The prosecutors have requested this after they alleged that Bankman-Fried had reached out to Ryne Miller, the current General Counsel of FTX US, on Jan. 15 attempting to “influence” Miller’s testimony. The document stated: “I would really love to reconnect and see …
Regulation / Jan. 28, 2023
FTX lawyers to reap millions from the bankruptcy case: Report
Controversial law firm Sullivan & Cromwell is on track to reap a fortune from its work on the bankruptcy case of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, according to a new report. Sullivan & Cromwell’s costs in the FTX case are estimated to reach hundreds of millions of dollars before the firm’s bankruptcy investigation is over, Bloomberg Law reported on Jan. 27. As the FTX trial is scheduled for October 2023, the firm’s lawyers now have about eight months to untangle the complicated FTX case, which will cost a lot of time and money. Sullivan & Cromwell has more than 150 people …
Regulation / Jan. 27, 2023
FTX legal team calls for Sam Bankman-Fried's family to answer questions under oath: Report
Lawyers representing FTX in bankruptcy court have reportedly argued that former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried’s immediate family should face questioning regarding their personal wealth. According to a Jan. 26 report from Bloomberg, FTX’s lawyers requested Judge John Dorsey in the District of Delaware allow them to question Joseph Bankman, Barbara Fried, and Gabriel Bankman-Fried — the father, mother, and brother of SBF, respectively — under oath about any financial benefits they may have received from the exchange. Other FTX executives could reportedly be subject to the same line of questioning in an effort to track down assets tied to the bankrupt …
Regulation / Jan. 26, 2023
SBF allegedly used FTX money to invest $400M in obscure VC firm
Authorities in the United States might have discovered yet another possible component of Sam Bankman-Fried’s (SBF) cryptocurrency empire. U.S. federal prosecutors have alleged that Bankman-Fried has used money from FTX exchange to invest in the venture capital firm Modulo Capital, according to a report by The New York Times. As previously reported, SBF’s hedge fund and FTX’s sister firm, Alameda Research, invested a total of $400 million in Modulo in 2022, which became one of the largest investments by SBF. The funding has drawn particular attention from regulators due to Modulo — which is a relatively unknown firm — raising …
Regulation / Jan. 26, 2023
FTX creditor list shows airlines, charities and tech firms caught in collapse
A complete list of the creditors owed money by the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX has been released, revealing a myriad of companies and government entities wrapped up in its collapse. Late on Jan. 25, lawyers for FTX filed its creditor matrix to the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware. The massive 115-page document details the names of its creditors in alphabetical order. The list reveals the sprawling global web of companies from airlines, hotels, charities, banks, venture capital firms, media outlets and crypto companies along with U.S. and international government agencies all owed money by the fallen …
Business / Jan. 26, 2023
FTX VCs liable to ‘serious questions’ around due diligence — CFTC Commissioner
Amid ongoing investigations around the defunct crypto exchange FTX, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) questions the due diligence conducted by institutional investors and their accountability regarding the loss of users’ funds. CFTC Commissioner Christy Goldsmith Romero stated that VCs that had to write down their investments in millions of dollars to nearly zero raises “serious questions” about the due diligence conducted over the last year, speaking to Bloomberg. She raised concerns about FTX CEO John Ray’s revelations in court about not having any records and controls over the exchange’s financials. I'm glad Mr. Ray is finally paying lip service …
Adoption / Jan. 21, 2023
Crypto Biz: SBF’s newest Excel spreadsheet reveals all
Large enterprise businesses spend tons of money keeping track of their financial dealings — think accountants, financial analysts, consultants and enterprise-grade accounting software. Sam Bankman-Fried, meanwhile, used Microsoft Excel. On Jan. 17, in another sloppy Excel spreadsheet, SBF revealed that FTX US was solvent. The Excel file purportedly showed customer balances, bank deposits and assets held in cold storage. “S&C forgot to include bank balances” of roughly $428 million, SBF said, referring to FTX’s former legal counsel Sullivan & Cromwell. “Once you add those back in, you get in the neighborhood of my prior balance sheet” of around $350 million, …
Business / Jan. 20, 2023