- The U.S. government seized about $700 million worth of assets linked to the former FTX CEO, primarily in Robinhood shares.
- The Feds also seized a series of bank accounts belonging to Sam Bankman-Fried, holding millions of cash.
- SBF denies misappropriation of customer funds as he awaits his trial in October.
The U.S. Federal prosecutors have confiscated about $700 million worth of cash and assets belonging to the disgraced crypto exchange founder, Sam Bankman-Fried. According to a Friday court filing, most of the funds came from 55.2 million shares of Robinhood Markets Inc, owned by Mr. Bankman. As per the exchange rate of January 20 this year, the Robinhood shares are worth $526.2 million.
The ownership of the shares has been distributed even by BlockFi and FTX creditor Yonathan Ben Shimon who laid claims over them. However, the prosecutors tend to believe that they were purchased using allegedly stolen funds of FTX users.
The filing also noted that the U.S. government seized nearly $56 million from various bank accounts. They include $49.9 million from Moonstone bank, now in the U.S. government’s custody, and $5.3 million from Silvergate bank, in the name of FTX Digital Markets.
Some assets were confiscated from one Binance and two Binance U.S. account numbers; however, the prosecutors have been tight-lipped about the values. Over $20 million held under Emergent Fidelity Technologies was also subjected to forfeiture.
The former FTX CEO pleaded not guilty to eight criminal charges, including multiple counts of fraud, conspiracy, and violation of campaign finance laws, among others, after his extradition to the United States from the Bahamas.
The crypto mogul SBF’s details emerged regarding two anonymous people who co-sponsored $700,000 on bond for the former CEO’s bail. One individual gave out $500,000, while the other poured $200,000 to enable him to get out of jail. The court kept the names of the persons confidential after the lawyers representing SBF raised concerns about their safety.
Previously, Mr. Bankman had argued that his family was a target of media scrutiny and harassment and received threats of physical harm after the exchange became bankrupt. However, SBF was released on a $250 million bond accompanied by several conditions as he awaits his trial in October.
SBF move to block the government from seizing Robinhood shares
Bankman-Fried has maintained his innocence and sought to block the government from seizing the Robinhood shares in court. His attorneys claim that the stakes are not part of the FTX bankruptcy. The lawyers stipulated that while the exchange’s debtors have not shown they would be “irreparably injured” by denial of the claim to the shares, Mr. Bankman needs some of the assets to fund his defense.
In a court filing earlier this month, SBF’s lawyers stated:
“Mr. Bankman has not been criminally or civilly liable for fraud, and it is improper for the FTX debtors to ask the court to simply assume that everything Mr. Bankman ever touched is presumptively fraudulent.”
However, the new FTX management, led by John Ray III, has tracked down billions of dollars of assets tied to FTX as part of the bankruptcy proceedings. The company discovered $5 billion in assets, providing FTX users with hope amid the company’s recent bankruptcy filing.
Earlier, FTX’s new CEO stated that it might be possible to reopen the FTX platform. He believes that the move to reopen the company would offer a lot of value to its users rather than liquidating the assets, closing, or selling the firm.
