According to a new court filing, unscrupulous FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) will face forfeiture of approximately $700 million in assets if he is convicted of fraud.
In a court document filed on January 20, US federal prosecutor Damian Williams stated that “the government respectfully gives notice that the property to be confiscated” includes a long list of assets in fiat, stocks and crypto.
The filings state that many assets were seized by the government between Jan.4 and January 19, when it is also looking to lay claim to “all money and assets” belonging to three separate Binance accounts.
Looking at the list of seized assets, the largest allocation includes 55,273,469 shares of Robinhood (HOOD) worth approximately $525.5 million at the time of writing, $94.5 million held in Silvergate Bank, $49.9 million held in Farmington State Bank and $20.7 million in ED&F Man Capital Markets. , Inc.
The government has submitted a forfeiture order in this case because it says the assets were obtained illegally through the use of customer deposits.
While members of the main circle of SBF such as Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang have fessed up and cooperated with prosecutors through their role in FTX’s collapse, the man himself has pleaded not guilty to all eight criminal charges laid against him.
related: FTX bankruptcy lawyers: debtors face ‘attack by Twitter’ from Sam Bankman-Fried
FTX is tied to African investors with inflation hedge marketing
In other FTX-related news, a January 18 report from the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) highlighted poor marketing that the exchange released in Africa shortly before the bankruptcy in November.
The campaign claims stablecoins pegged to USD are a safer investment than local currencies in terms of inflation, and also promotes the potential to earn 8% annually through a staking rewards program.
Although these inflationary sentiments are largely correct as African currencies such as the Nigerian naira and the Ghanaian cedi have collapsed against the USD, African FTX customers who are persuaded by marketing will surely lose their funds when the company goes bankrupt.
related: FTX’s resurgence could falter as long-standing user confidence has been eroded, observers say
Former FTX head of education for Africa Pius Okedinachi told the WSJ that the exchange oversees about $500 million in monthly trading volume in Africa, with most of that volume coming from Nigeria.
Interestingly, just eight days before FTX filed for bankruptcy, SBF also promoted FTX services to West Africa, announcing in a November 3 tweet that the exchange had started accepting deposits in West African CFA francs.