The United States Federal prosecutors have confiscated nearly $700 million in cash and assets connected to Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founder of FTX.
At the heart of the seizure are the 55 million Robinhood shares owned by Bankman-Fried and Gary Wang, valued at over $455 million. The ownership of the shares has been disputed even by BlockFi and FTX creditor Yonathan Ben Shimon who laid claims over them. The Feds, for one, believe they were purchased using allegedly stolen funds of FTX customers.
Assets Seized
The CNBC report identified three accounts by FTX Digital Markets on Silvergate Bank, which held over $6 million. These assets were seized around January 11. A rural Washington state bank, Moonstone Bank, also had ties to FTX management and held nearly $50 million, which is now in the custody of the US government.
In a recent statement, the bank said that it will be exiting the crypto space and will instead return to its “original mission” as a community bank.
Assets were seized from one Binance and two Binance.US account numbers, but the Feds have been tight-lipped about the values. Over $20 million held under Emergent Fidelity Technologies was also subjected to forfeiture.
FTX’s chief restructuring officer, John J. Ray III, along with its new management, has tracked down billions of dollars of assets linked to the Bankman-Fried’s crypto empire as part of bankruptcy proceedings. The former CEO pleaded not guilty to eight criminal charges, including wire fraud and violations of campaign finance laws, after his extradition to the United States from the Bahamas.
Aftermath SBF’s Bail
Following his bail, new details surfaced regarding two anonymous persons, in addition to his parents, that co-sponsored a total of $700,000 on bond for Bankman-Fried’s bail. One individual poured in $500,000, while the other put $200,000 to help get him out of jail. However, their names were redacted by the court after lawyers representing the FTX founder raised concerns about their safety.
The former crypto mogul previously argued that his family became a target of “intense media scrutiny, harassment, received threats of physical harm” after the exchange slid into bankruptcy, trapping billions of investor funds.
More recently, in a filing with the Manhattan federal court, SBF lawyers claimed that three men drove their vehicle into a metal barricade outside his parent’s house in California and even threatened the security officer stationed there.
The 30-year-old was granted bail on a $250 million bond accompanied by several conditions. His criminal trial is scheduled to begin in October this year.
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