FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s father, Joseph Bankman, played a role in meetings where marketing materials were developed for FTT—the cryptocurrency that played a pivotal role in the exchange’s collapse when it buckled last November, Bloomberg reported.
Bankman, a professor at Stanford Law School, was also involved in meetings that discussed tax issues, the outlet reported, citing invoices from the law firm Fenwick & West. The law firm was hired by hedge fund Alameda Research, FTX’s sister firm.
Sam Bankman-Fried Wants Regular Release From Jail, May Blame Lawyers In His Defense
If FTX founder Sam Bakman-Fried isn’t allowed to leave jail five times a week, preparing for his criminal fraud trial in October will be unreasonably burdensome, his attorneys argued on Friday—a trial where he could throw FTX attorneys under the bus. Bankman-Fried is currently confined to a detention center in Brooklyn, arriving in handcuffs weeks ago after his bail was revoked on witness tampering concerns. It was a drastic shift from his parents’ California home, where he had been on house arr...
It’s an interesting turn because the FTX founder’s counsel signaled last month he might lean into an “advice-of-counsel” defense at his soon-to-begin trial, where a purported lack of criminal intent rests on assurances he received from lawyers at the helm of FTX.
While Bankman is not mentioned specifically in a court filing that outlines the strategy, Bankman-Fried’s father—a legal scholar specializing in tax law—reportedly gave his son extensive advice. Even before FTX was ever launched, and Bankman-Fried led Alameda, his father lent a hand on legal matters according to Thursday’s report.
FTX 'One of the Biggest Financial Frauds in American History': Prosecutor Damian Williams
A day after former FTX Chief Executive Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams provided insight into the charges levied against him. Earlier today, Bankman-Fried’s indictment was unveiled by the attorney’s office, revealing the disgraced crypto entrepreneur has been charged with eight crimes, including wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. “It’s fair to say that [...] this is one of the biggest fi...
Bankman-Fried and FTX insiders have been accused of misappropriating billions of dollars of customer funds, in what is allegedly one of the biggest frauds in American history. He faces a litany of charges, including fraud and money laundering, which he has pleaded not guilty to.
A person familiar with FTX’s operations told Bloomberg that Bankman played a key role in the exchange’s decision to relocate its headquarters to the Bahamas from Hong Kong.
Funds allegedly mismanaged by Bankman-Fried include a $10 million gift to his father, according to a lawsuit brought by FTX’s current management in July. The lawsuit accuses Bankman-Fried’s father of using the funds to bankroll his son’s legal defense.
Bankman-Fried’s father had no formal role at the company, but he appeared as a U.S. founding father in an FTX commercial that ran during the Super Bowl in 2022. In the ad, Bankman rebutted comedian Larry David’s critique of the U.S. Constitution.
Before FTX’s fortunes fell into oblivion, Alameda’s operations were allegedly supported by FTT.
FTX Used Client Funds, FTT Tokens, and Robinhood Shares to Prop Up Alameda: Report
After Alameda Research suffered a series of losses in May and June this year, the trading firm’s founder Sam Bankman-Fried set at least $4 billion in FTX funds to Alameda, according to a Reuters report citing people familiar with the operations. A portion of these funds reportedly were FTX customer deposits, two people told Reuters, although their exact value is unclear. Bankman-Fried did not tell other FTX executives about the move, the people said, adding he was afraid this information could l...
The exchange token fell after Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao said Binance would liquidate its holdings of the FTT, and the token’s tailspin grew fatal after Binance backed away from a potential buyout of its rival FTX.
As customers rushed to withdraw their funds from the flailing exchange, FTX couldn’t satisfy customer withdrawals. The exchange filed for bankruptcy after being forced to admit it did not hold one-to-one assets of customer reserves.
