by Former FTX chief govt Sam Bankman-Fried (C) arrives to enter a plea earlier than US District Judge Lewis Kaplan in the Manhattan federal court docket, New York, January 3, 2023.Â
Ed Jones | AFP | Getty Images
Federal prosecutors seized almost $700 million in money and assets related to Sam Bankman-Fried, primarily in the shape of Robinhood shares that had been owned by the FTX founder, a court docket submitting revealed Friday.
John Ray, who changed Bankman-Fried as CEO to guide FTX’s restructuring, is making an attempt to rescue funds that had been misplaced by the crypto firm’s depositors when the agency spiraled out of business in November. Bankman-Fried was arrested on legal fraud expenses in December and is launched on a $250 million bond as he awaits trial.
The 55 million-plus Robinhood shares are on the coronary heart of a contentious multi-party battle between Caribbean litigants, representatives of bankrupt crypto lender BlockFi, Bankman-Fried himself, and FTX’s chapter management.
Federal prosecutors have alleged that the Robinhood shares had been bought utilizing allegedly stolen buyer funds. In May, Bankman-Fried revealed that he’d bought a 7.6% stake in Robinhood and stated on the time “we expect it’s a gorgeous funding.” The inventory closed Friday at $9.52, valuing the recovered shares at over $526 million.
Bankman-Fried has denied misappropriating buyer assets.
Three of the seized accounts had been held at Silvergate Bank, in the title of FTX Digital Markets, holding over $6 million. Those assets, held in the title of a Bahamian subsidiary, had been assumed by the federal government “on or about” Jan. 11. Silvergate lately disclosed that buyer deposits plunged by almost 70% in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Almost $50 million was custodied at Moonstone Bank, a U.S. monetary establishment with ties to FTX administration, the court docket submitting reveals.
Federal prosecutors didn’t disclose the worth of funds or assets in one Binance account and two Binance.US account numbers. Those three Binance accounts had been the one seized assets that didn’t have values hooked up to them.
