NY - Samuel Bankman-Fried (FTX), Alleged Fraud, Money Laundering, 2019-2022 *Arrest*

[Countem]

Collapse of FTX deprives academics of grants, stokes fears of forced repayment

This article does a good job summarizing the impact of the collapse the FTX Future Fund, which has left researchers in a bind.

 

[Countem]

Wow. Just wow. That’s all I can say after reading these articles. As an auditor, this is a worst nightmare scenario.

FTX bosses joked about losing millions of dollars, damning report claims

Disgraced founder Sam Bankman-Fried accused of ‘hubris, incompetence, and greed’

www.telegraph.co.uk

Failed crypto exchange FTX's spectacular collapse was due to 'hubris, incompetence, and greed,' says first debtors' report

The report also alleged FTX lacked basic accounting and financial controls and was under the command of a small group of individuals.

www.businessinsider.com

 

[Countem]

SBF's lawyers ask for another extension to comply with new bail conditions

SBF's lawyers said they need more time to meet the bail terms that require installation of monitoring software on his parents' devices.

cryptoslate.com

SBF's lawyers said they need more time to meet the bail terms that require installation of monitoring software on his parents' devices.

Seriously. Is there even a point in installing it at this point? He’s had months to use everything restriction-free.

 

[Gemmie]

SBF's lawyers ask for another extension to comply with new bail conditions

SBF's lawyers said they need more time to meet the bail terms that require installation of monitoring software on his parents' devices.

cryptoslate.com

Seriously. Is there even a point in installing it at this point? He’s had months to use everything restriction-free.

I join you in the eyeroll. smh

 

[Countem]

FTX has recovered $7.3B in assets, bankruptcy lawyer says

Attorneys for bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX said Wednesday the company has recovered more than $7.3 billion in cash and crypto assets since its collapse.

finance.yahoo.com

Bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX has recovered upward of $7.3 billion in liquid assets, an attorney for the failed platform told a judge Wednesday.

 

[Countem]

https://www.thestreet.com/crypto/news/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-insurance-money-denied

SBF’s bid to use FTX’s $10M director and officer liability insurance policy for his defense has been denied without prejudice by the judge because SBF has not sufficiently proven that he does not have the means to pay his legal bills (expected to be in the millions) himself. The judge said that an evidentiary hearing can be held at a later date, if SBF desires.

 

[Countem]

Lawmakers Give SEC April 17 Deadline for Release of Sam Bankman-Fried Records

Lawmakers are clashing with a regulator over access to records about the arrest of Sam Bankman-Fried.

www.pymnts.com

The SEC has until April 17 to turn over documents related to its investigation into SBF to House Committee.

 

[Gemmie]

Interesting. To me at least. lol I didn't know he'd been avoiding this. I also didn't know he was involved in any way. I guess I'll go back under my rock now. lol

After months of attempting to serve Shaquille O’Neal in a lawsuit against celebrities who endorsed the now-bankrupt FTX crypto platform, lawyers for a group of FTX investors said they finally succeeded on Sunday.

“Plaintiffs in the billion $ FTX class action case just served @SHAQ outside his house,” the Moskowitz Law Firm tweeted. “His home video cameras recorded our service and we made it very clear that he is not to destroy or erase any of these security tapes, because they must be preserved for our lawsuit.”

https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/17/business/shaq-ftx-lawsuit/index.html

 

[Countem]

SBF's parents could have every text, call, and download monitored while their son is under house arrest

New bail conditions proposed by the FTX cofounder's lawyers would use monitoring software to track every keystroke and download on his parents' cell phones.

www.businessinsider.com

• Sam Bankman-Fried's lawyers have proposed a system to monitor activity on his parents' cell phones to ensure he isn't using them.
• They told the court this week the software they downloaded doesn't have a function they agreed to use.
• The proposed monitoring is part of the bail agreement that allow SBF to remain out of jail on house arrest.

 

[Countem]

Here are a couple developments on the celebrity endorsement side of the case.

Brady, Larry David Deny FTX Liability by Claiming Ad ‘Puffery’

Tom Brady, Steph Curry and other celebrities accused of duping fans into buying FTX cryptocurrency argue they broke no laws.

www.sportico.com

Taylor Swift didn't sign $100 million FTX deal because of one question

Taylor Swift sidestepped the FTX disaster by asking one simple question when approached by the disgraced crypto exchange about a $100 million sponsorship deal.

www.dailymail.co.uk

 

[ElizB]

SBF's parents could have every text, call, and download monitored while their son is under house arrest

New bail conditions proposed by the FTX cofounder's lawyers would use monitoring software to track every keystroke and download on his parents' cell phones.

www.businessinsider.com

This is ridiculous. If he’s not meeting the terms of his house arrest, he should wait for his trial in jail.

 

[Gemmie]

This is ridiculous. If he’s not meeting the terms of his house arrest, he should wait for his trial in jail.

Agreed!! I stated the same upthread. Apparently the court doesn't care about what I think should be done as he's still out on house arrest. lol And living with his parents who are tangled up in this mess! WTH!?!??!

 

[Howl]

"New modifications to the bail conditions for disgraced FTX cofounder Sam Bankman-Fried proposed Friday would subject every phone call, text message, and downloaded app on his parents' personal devices to possible review by the courts."

Why are SBF's lawyers attempting to create the appearance of more transparency for the parents? It seems that the parents are desperate to keep SBF under their roof. Is it because the parents are actually close enough to the fraud to be co-conspirators? They want to keep the son close so he doesn't flip and implicate them? Simply trying to protect their boy?

1. Why are the SBF's lawyers suggesting this and how is it advantageous to their client?
2. Too easy to circumvent monitoring using burner phones.
3. SBF + the parents could use it to create a strategic narrative for future court cases by carefully curating what they text, who they call and what they say, what sites they look at, what apps they use.

SBF is smart and cunning, the parents are smart and cunning lawyers, they live together and they all have retained smart and cunning lawyers.

 

[Gemmie]

"New modifications to the bail conditions for disgraced FTX cofounder Sam Bankman-Fried proposed Friday would subject every phone call, text message, and downloaded app on his parents' personal devices to possible review by the courts."

Why are SBF's lawyers attempting to create the appearance of more transparency for the parents? It seems that the parents are desperate to keep SBF under their roof. Is it because the parents are actually close enough to the fraud to be co-conspirators? They want to keep the son close so he doesn't flip and implicate them? Simply trying to protect their boy?

SBMFF

I feel like they are plotting, planning, and getting their stories straight. I also feel they ALL had their fingers in the pie. SBF just got a larger piece of the pie. I just do NOT understand why he's allowed to live in his parents house and not wait behind bars. This just feels *advertiser censored*-backwards to me but what the heck do I know?

 

[Countem]

Recent SBF Developments

Sam Bankman-Fried’s Favorite Video Game Is Shutting Down

The online video game beloved by former FTX head Sam Bankman-Fried will soon be no more, after its developer was unable to find a way to continue operating following the crypto exchange’s collapse.

www.bloomberg.com

Storybook Brawl, which was acquired by FTX Ventures in March 2022, will shut down on May 1.

Judge approves taps on SBF’s parents’ phones to meet bail conditions

U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan approved the use of surveillance software on Sam Bankman-Fried’s parent’s phones to ensure that his bail conditions are not breached.

cointelegraph.com

The judge has approved modified measures to monitor SBF’s parents’ phones while SBF is out on bail. Instead of taking a photo of the phone’s user ever five minutes (which was deemed an unavailable feature), the monitoring software will log keystrokes and monitor app downloads, internet browsing history, texts, and audio/video phone calls.

 

[Countem]

F.B.I. Searches Home of Top FTX Executive

Ryan Salame, a former top FTX executive and a prolific Republican donor, faces mounting legal pressure for his role in Sam Bankman-Fried’s business empire.

www.nytimes.com

The FBI has searched the $4m home of Ryan Salame, a former top FTX executive and major political donor. Federal authorities believe some of those political donations came from misappropriated customer funds and were part of a straw donor scheme by SBF.

 

[Countem]

FTX gets approval for LedgerX sale, asserts $3.9 billion Genesis claim

Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX received U.S. bankruptcy court permission on Thursday to sell its LedgerX business for $50 million, raising additional funds to repay creditors.

www.reuters.com

FTX has gotten the bankruptcy court’s go-ahead to sell LedgerX for $50M in a bid to raise funds to pay back creditors.

FTX also announced its intention to attempt to claw back roughly $4 billion from Genesis Global Capital.

 

[Countem]

Bankman-Fried file motion to dismiss all but three charges against him

FTX co-founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, 31, filed motions to dismiss most charges against him in connection with the collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency platform.

www.dailymail.co.uk

• FTX co-founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, 31, filed motions to dismiss most charges against him in connection with the collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency platform
• Bankman-Fried's legal team argues that the charges were brought hastily by prosecutors, who sought to turn civil and regulatory issues into federal crimes
• He is not contesting three charges related to commodities fraud, securities fraud and money laundering

 

[Howl]

• FTX co-founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, 31, filed motions to dismiss most charges against him in connection with the collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency platform
• Bankman-Fried's legal team argues that the charges were brought hastily by prosecutors, who sought to turn civil and regulatory issues into federal crimes
• He is not contesting three charges related to commodities fraud, securities fraud and money laundering

SBF's lawyers are probing, probing, probing, throwing motions against the judicial wall to see if anything sticks, to sus out where the legal weaknesses are, to develop legal strategy going forward.

This ("who sought to turn civil and regulatory issues into federal crimes") may be the telling point -- to see if there is any possibility of downgrading charges under civil/regulatory law to avoid Federal felony charges...or, dismissing the worst charges, leaving only things that can be charged in civil court. Legal chess. Alternately, a friend described legal to-ing and fro-ing like a Medieval jousting tournament, when each horseman tries to unseat the other.

 

[Countem]

Michael Lewis had a front row seat to Sam Bankman-Fried's downfall. He called the disgraced former FTX CEO 'the ideal subject'

Michael Lewis had shadowed SBF for a year before his arrest in December.

fortune.com

Should be a good book.