FTX debacle gets new twists with Bankman-Fried at the center
FTX meltdown has been monumental. Now, a series of events haunt Bankman-Fried and keep him away from what was once his crypto estate.
FTX keeps haunting Bankman-Fried
Things are getting hard for Sam Bankman-Fried as regulators prepare for the October trials, and FTX is getting liquidated. He is under house arrest after being granted a $250M bail.
Since his release, Bankman-Fried has been trying to access FTX and Alameda Funds and ‘prove’ his innocence to no avail. All that seems to be working against him. Yesterday, a series of events happened. Here is a breakdown of what transpired.
Judge rules that SBF’s $250M guarantors be made public
In a Jan 30 ruling, two sureties of the $250M bail granted to Bankman-Fried were asked to be revealed. The New York judge ruled that the two unnamed individuals who have been hidden since the bail terms were made and signed can now be exposed.
This news shocked Bankman-Fried’s legal counsel, who had highly contested that the individuals’ identities remain hidden, citing security reasons. The Judge has given them until Feb 8 to contest the ruling.
Alameda Research sues bankrupt Voyager Digital for $446M
FTX’s sister company, Alameda Research, is suing bankrupt crypto lender Voyager Digital for $446M. The ill-fated company is seeking to claw back loan repayments that FTX had made to the crypto lender before filing for bankruptcy in November.
The lawyers managing FTX and Alameda filed the motion against Voyager in a Delaware court on Jan 30. The development twist is that both companies filed for bankruptcy in 2022, but voyagers came four months earlier. Following its bankruptcy filing, it demanded that FTX and Alameda repay all loans.
According to FTX lawyers, these loans need to be clawed back as they were made near November when the exchange filed for bankruptcy. FTX claims to have paid $248.8M in September and another 4193.9M in October. It also made a $3.2M repayment of the loan’s interest in August.
The lawyers claim that the exchange used customer deposits to make the payments, meaning the process was irregular. Voyager ought to refund it so the exchange’s users can be repaid.
Justice Dept wants SBF not to access FTX and Alameda assets
The US Department of Justice is siding with a filing that seeks to bar Bankman-Fried from accessing FTX and Alameda Assets. Prosecutors are not happy that Bankman-Fried tried to contact both FTX bankruptcy CEO John Ray and FTX US general counsel Ryne Miller. The prosecutors have even produced the text and email messages between Bankman-Fried and John Ray.
In Jan 30 filings, the Department of Justice responds to a recent move by Bankman-Fried’s lawyers to amend his bail conditions, including not contacting former or current FTX employees. Bankman allegedly wanted to meet John Ray in New York to explain how Ray could access the funds.
On Jan 12, Bankman-Fried had also claimed that law firm Sullivan & Crowell had pressured him into naming Ray as his successor. In response, Ray claimed that after filing for bankruptcy, Sam Bankman-Fried was no longer the FTX CEO, and he has no role in the company, therefore, no authority to talk on the company’s behalf.