Former FTX chief executive Sam Bankman-Fried (C) arrives to enter a plea before US District Judge Lewis Kaplan within the Manhattan federal court, Latest York, January 3, 2023.
Ed Jones | AFP | Getty Images
Federal prosecutors seized nearly $700 million in money and assets connected to Sam Bankman-Fried, primarily in the shape of Robinhood shares that were owned by the FTX founder, a court filing revealed Friday.
John Ray, who replaced Bankman-Fried as CEO to guide FTX’s restructuring, is attempting to rescue funds that were lost by the crypto company’s depositors when the firm spiraled out of business in November. Bankman-Fried was arrested on criminal fraud charges in December and is released on a $250 million bond as he awaits trial.
The 55 million-plus Robinhood shares are at the center of a contentious multi-party battle between Caribbean litigants, representatives of bankrupt crypto lender BlockFi, Bankman-Fried himself, and FTX’s bankruptcy leadership.
Federal prosecutors have alleged that the Robinhood shares were purchased using allegedly stolen customer funds. In May, Bankman-Fried revealed that he’d purchased a 7.6% stake in Robinhood and said on the time “we expect it’s a gorgeous investment.” The stock closed Friday at $9.52, valuing the recovered shares at over $526 million.
Bankman-Fried has denied misappropriating customer assets.
Three of the seized accounts were held at Silvergate Bank, within the name of FTX Digital Markets, holding over $6 million. Those assets, held within the name of a Bahamian subsidiary, were assumed by the federal government “on or about” Jan. 11. Silvergate recently disclosed that customer deposits plunged by nearly 70% within the fourth quarter of 2022.
Almost $50 million was custodied at Moonstone Bank, a U.S. financial institution with ties to FTX management, the court filing shows.
Federal prosecutors didn’t disclose the worth of funds or assets in a single Binance account and two Binance.US account numbers. Those three Binance accounts were the one seized assets that didn’t have values attached to them.
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