The FTX brouhaha continues and this time, not surprisingly, millions of dollars in cash and assets belonging to the former big boss of the crypto exchange have been confiscated by the United States authorities.
Federal authorities have seized $ 150 million in assets related to FTX co-founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, a large chunk of which came in the form of Robinhood stock, which was submitted to the court on Friday.
Stocks, cash, and other assets totaling nearly $700 million have now been seized by U.S. officials in connection with the ongoing investigation.
The US Department of Justice announced the seizure of Robinhood shares earlier this month, but on Friday, they presented a more comprehensive list of assets placed, including cash held in several banks and assets placed on the Binance cryptocurrency exchange.
FTX former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. Image: Euromoney
New FTX CEO Has His Hands Full
John Ray, who replaced Bankman-Fried as CEO to oversee the rehabilitation of FTX, is trying to recover the funds that depositors of the cryptocurrency exchange lost when the company collapsed in November.
In December last year, Bankman-Fried was charged with eight counts of money laundering and fraud, to which she pleaded not guilty. Two sidekicks at FTX have pleaded guilty to fraud charges and collaborating with federal authorities.
FTX CEO John Ray. Image: New York Post
In addition, prosecutors seized nearly $6 million in assets from Silvergate Bank accounts and another $50 million from Moonstone Bank accounts. An undisclosed amount was seized from Binance and Binance.US accounts, court documents reveal.
The holdings of Robinhood’s shares, worth about $525 million, have been contested by Bankman-Fried, FTX, and bankrupt cryptocurrency lender BlockFi.
SBF Anonymous Bail Donor
In December, Bankman-Fried was arrested on fraud charges and released on $250 million bail. He denied embezzlement of customer assets.
A subsequent Insider report indicated that two unnamed individuals raised approximately $700,000 for SBF’s bail bonds. One person offered $200,000, while the other secured $500,000 in funding.
The court withheld the names of these men as SBF lawyers expressed fear for their safety.
Bankman-Fried said in a recent blog post that he is “offering to donate almost all of my personal Robinhood stock to our customers.”
Crypto total market cap at $991 billion on the daily chart | Chart: TradingView.com
Federal authorities allege that shares in Robinhood were purchased with stolen consumer cash.
In May 2022, SBF acquired 7.8% of the company through the purchase of shares on the financial platform. In addition, he is the sole owner and director of shares acquired through Emergent Fidelity Technologies.
Meanwhile, the DOJ has launched an investigation into the disappearance of $370 million in FTX assets hours after the exchange filed for bankruptcy.
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