Versa 250 million dollars and go home: this is how the was pronounced federal judge in New York Gabriel Gorenstein against the Sam Bankman Fried the founder and former CEO of Ftx cryptocurrency exchange finished in bankruptcy. Now, awaiting trial for fraud in connection with the collapse of his cryptocurrency trading platform, he will have to remain under close surveillance at the home of his parents in California, both professors at Stanford Law School, will have to wear the electronic bracelet and hand in the passport. In addition, he will have to undergo treatments to detoxify drug addiction and will have to report to the authorities every one he spends over $ 1.000.
Sbf, as it is called in the industry, last Wednesday he was still incarcerated in the Bahamas, where he resided and where the headquarters of Ftx is located. He arrived in court in New York handcuffed to his ankles and wearing a charcoal gray suit, indicted for eight counts, Between including securities fraud e riciclaggio di denaro.
In particular Bankman-Fried is accused of having perpetrated a multi-billion dollar fraud to the detriment of its investors, using client funds to buy property, fund political donations (mostly to the Democratic party), and operations at its hedge fund Alameda Research. Federal regulators say more than $8 billion in customer funds are missing. FTX filed for bankruptcy protection in Delaware on Nov. 11. The new CEO of FTX, John Ray he said he has never witnessed such a "total failure of corporate controls."
FTX: Ellinson and Wang, his closest collaborators, also collapsed
Caroline Ellison, former CEO of Alameda Research, pleaded guilty to fraud charges brought by American justice and began collaborating with investigators. She admitted her guilt too Gary Wang, one of the founders of ftx together with Bankman–Fried. The cooperation of the two former managers is considered essential by the judges to reconstruct the case. The three lived together in the Bahamas. Ellinson and Wang have pledged to "cooperate fully" with the authorities and the FBI and to provide "all the information requested of them", according to the agreements signed by the two. Their guilty pleas show how authorities believe Bankman-Fried did not act alone in the development of his fraud. “They were active components in the scheme set up to fool FTX investors and ensure success,” she says Sec, the American Consob. Ellison and Wang were charged "in connection with their roles in the frauds that contributed to the collapse of FTX," adds prosecutor Damian Williams.
Il case of Bankman-Fried and Ftx represented one of the biggest scandals ever in the cryptocurrency sector: in addition to causing the bankruptcy of the company, it provoked backlash across the industry between the collapse of Bitcoin and escapes of users from similar platforms.
