Based on new court docket filings, disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) can be topic to the forfeiture of roughly $700 million value of belongings if he had been to be discovered responsible of fraud.
In a court docket doc filed on Jan 20, U.S. federal prosecutor Damian Williams outlined that the “authorities respectfully provides discover that the property topic to forfeiture” covers a protracted listing of belongings throughout fiat, shares and crypto.
The filings state that many of the belongings had been seized by the federal government between Jan.4 and Jan. 19, whereas it is usually trying to lay declare to “all monies and belongings” belonging to 3 separate Binance accounts.
Trying on the listing of seized belongings, the most important allocations embody 55,273,469 Robinhood (HOOD) shares value roughly $525.5 million on the time of writing, $94.5 million held at Silvergate Financial institution, $49.9 million held at Farmington State Financial institution and $20.7 million at ED&F Man Capital Markets, Inc.
SBF Forfeiture order: Court docket Listener
The federal government has submitted a forfeiture order on this occasion because it alleges that these belongings have been obtained unlawfully through the usage of buyer deposits.
Whereas members of SBF’s inside circle corresponding to Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang have fessed up and cooperated with prosecutors over their roles in FTX’s collapse, the person himself has pleaded not responsible to all eight legal expenses laid towards him.
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FTX roped in African buyers with inflation hedge advertising and marketing
In different FTX-related information, a Jan. 18 report from the Wall Road Journal (WSJ) highlighted poorly aged advertising and marketing that the alternate launched in Africa not too lengthy earlier than it went bankrupt in November.
The marketing campaign in query touted USD-pegged stablecoins as safer investments than native currencies regarding inflation, whereas additionally selling the potential to earn 8% yearly through staking rewards packages.
Whereas these inflation sentiments could usually be true on condition that African currencies such because the Nigerian naira and Ghanaian cedi have plummeted towards the USD, any African FTX buyer persuaded by the advertising and marketing after all went on misplaced funds when the agency went bankrupt.
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Former FTX training lead for Africa Pius Okedinachi instructed the WSJ that round that the alternate oversaw round $500 million value of month-to-month buying and selling quantity in Africa, with many of the quantity coming from Nigeria.
Notably, simply eight days earlier than FTX filed for chapter, SBF additionally promoted FTX’s providers to West Africa, asserting in a Nov. 3 tweet that the alternate had began accepting deposits in West African CFA francs.