FTX Assets Frozen By Bahamas Regulator, Liquidator Appointed, Arrest Rumored

[enslaved1]

Sam Bankman-Fried Pleads ‘Not Guilty’ to Fraud, Conspiracy Charges
https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2023/01/03/sam-bankman-fried-pleads-not-guilty-to-fraud-conspiracy-charges/

Sam Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty.

Does anyone ever plead guilty anymore?  Especially in financial crimes, it seems hope for lesser charges/mistrial/plea deal/whatever springs eternal. 

[Eupher]

Does anyone ever plead guilty anymore?  Especially in financial crimes, it seems hope for lesser charges/mistrial/plea deal/whatever springs eternal.

I think most of the time the lawyers on both sides want to cut a deal. They want the perp to plead guilty or no contest or whatever flavor of the month they have in exchange for reduced charges. Depending on the situation, charging the perp one or more felonies unless he pleads guilty to a couple of lesser charges.

Those lawyers don't want to go to trial unless they have to. It's too much work. 

[Texacon]

I think most of the time the lawyers on both sides want to cut a deal. They want the perp to plead guilty or no contest or whatever flavor of the month they have in exchange for reduced charges. Depending on the situation, charging the perp one or more felonies unless he pleads guilty to a couple of lesser charges.

Those lawyers don't want to go to trial unless they have to. It's too much work. 

Not to mention both sides get to claim a 'victory' for their resumes.

KC

[Ptarmigan]

Does anyone ever plead guilty anymore?  Especially in financial crimes, it seems hope for lesser charges/mistrial/plea deal/whatever springs eternal. 

On that topic.

Bernie Madoff went to jail to avoid mob hit: new Netflix docuseries
https://nypost.com/2023/01/03/netflix-docuseries-madoff-the-monster-of-wall-street-out-wednesday/

The day in December 2008 when FBI agents put Ponzi schemer Bernie Madoff in cuffs will be remembered for generations — and not just by the people who lost everything.

The numbers were staggering. A whopping $19 billion, all gone, stolen from more than 40,000 investors — the New York Mets, Larry King, Kevin Bacon, hospitals, colleges, pension funds — over more than two decades.

Now, a new Netflix docuseries tells the rest of the story. According to Joe Berlinger, director of the four-part “Madoff: The Monster of Wall Street,” out Wednesday, Madoff had also been managing “a significant chunk” of money for international organized crime,

That’s why the New York native, who died in jail in 2021 at the age of 82, was so willing to take the rap, as well as the 150-year prison sentence that followed, Berlinger said. Madoff felt no remorse — his guilty plea was just one last selfish act. He was trying to stay alive.

[Ptarmigan]

FTX lawyer tied to poker scandal reportedly flipped on Sam Bankman-Fried
https://nypost.com/2023/01/05/daniel-friedberg-flips-on-ftxs-sam-bankman-fried/

Daniel Friedberg — the former FTX “chief regulatory officer” who was tied to a notorious online poker cheating scandal — has reportedly flipped on Sam Bankman-Fried and has been cooperating with the feds in the epic crypto fraud case.

Friedberg, a member of Bankman-Fried’s inner circle and key legal adviser at FTX, met with investigators on Nov. 22 and detailed how the disgraced founder used customer funds “to finance his business empire,” Reuters reported on Thursday, citing a source with knowledge of the matter.

The former FTX lawyer reportedly has also dished to the feds about his conversations with other top executives about the user of customer funds, as well as the inner workings of Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency hedge fund, Alameda Research.

Friedberg’s involvement at FTX triggered alarm bells after The Post and others reported the details of his behind-the-scenes work for UltimateBet – a defunct poker site that collapsed after executives were discovered to have used a software exploit dubbed “God mode” to bilk players out of tens of millions of dollars from 2005 through 2008.

Daniel Friedberg has turned on Sam Bankman-Fried.

[DefiantSix]

On that topic.

Bernie Madoff went to jail to avoid mob hit: new Netflix docuseries
https://nypost.com/2023/01/03/netflix-docuseries-madoff-the-monster-of-wall-street-out-wednesday/

I call bullcrap, Netflix.

If any organization has consistently demonstrated time and again that the prison systems of the United States are their own, private hunting preserves, it would be the mafia. Either Netflix is pulling that little tidbit out of the place all DUmmies go to for their "facts", or Madoff is an honest to Dog legend in his own mind.

[Ptarmigan]

FTX says it has recovered over $5B, but customer losses still unknown
https://nypost.com/2023/01/11/ftx-says-over-5b-recovered-but-customer-losses-unknown/

Crypto exchange FTX has recovered more than $5 billion, but the extent of customer losses in its collapse is still unknown, an attorney for the bankrupt company founded by Sam Bankman-Fried said Wednesday.

The company, which was valued a year ago at $32 billion, filed for bankruptcy in November and US prosecutors accused Bankman-Fried of orchestrating an “epic” fraud that may have cost investors, customers and lenders billions of dollars.

“We have located over $5 billion of cash, liquid cryptocurrency and liquid investment securities,” Andy Dietderich, an attorney for FTX, told a US bankruptcy judge John Dorsey in Delaware at the start of Wednesday’s hearing.

Dietderich also said that the company plans to sell non-strategic investments that had a book value of $4.6 billion.

The tip of the iceberg.

[Ptarmigan]

Sam Bankman-Fried Blogs Like a Crypto Robin Hood, but in Court He's Not So Charitable
https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2023/01/12/sam-bankman-fried-blogs-like-a-robin-hood-but-in-court-hes-not-so-charitable/

Sam Bankman-Fried’s surprise Substack post Thursday included these charitable lines: “Nearly all of my assets were and still are utilizable to backstop FTX customers,” he wrote. “I have, for instance, offered to contribute nearly all of my personal shares in Robinhood to customers.”

It sounds like the British folk hero and outlaw of the same name, Robin Hood, who stole from the rich to give to the poor. As Bankman-Fried tells it on Substack, FTX users can have the stake in trading app Robinhood – worth about $450 million, though now seized by the U.S. Department of Justice – that he bought. A nice gesture, surely, as their money remains locked up.

But the swashbuckling hero’s tale is darker in court. In a Jan. 5 document filed with the Delaware bankruptcy court, Bankman-Fried resisted an attempt to transfer the 56 million Robinhood Markets (HOOD) shares to the estate of FTX – arguing both that he needed the funds to pay for his criminal defense and that FTX couldn’t prove he'd acquired the stock fraudulently.

Built on lies.

[Ptarmigan]

FTX reports $415 mln in hacked crypto, Bankman-Fried says FTX US is solvent
https://www.reuters.com/technology/ftx-says-415-million-crypto-was-hacked-2023-01-17/

Jan 17 (Reuters) - Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX said in a report to creditors on Tuesday that about $415 million in cryptocurrency had been stolen in hacks.

FTX has said it had recovered over $5 billion in crypto, cash and liquid securities, but that significant shortfalls remained at both its international and U.S. crypto exchanges. FTX attributed some of the shortfall to hacks, saying that $323 million in crypto had been hacked from FTX's international exchange and $90 million had been hacked from its U.S. exchange since it filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 11.

Indicted founder Sam Bankman-Fried later challenged aspects of the company's report in a blog post.

There is likely billions hidden.

[Ptarmigan]

How Social Media Influencers Fed Bankman-Fried's Cult of Personality
https://www.coindesk.com/consensus-magazine/2023/01/18/how-social-media-influencers-fed-bankman-frieds-cult-of-personality/

Did you know many of the biggest financial and money YouTubers who promoted FTX worked with the same talent agency?

As we witness the collateral damage caused by FTX unfold and the federal criminal charges against the crypto exchange’s founder Sam Bankman-Fried stack up, many are asking how so many
people fell for this Ponzi-like scam. As with any "successful" financial scheme, FTX was a confidence game – and the game only works if the "players" are duped into thinking things are safe.

Enter FTX’s promoters and pumpers.

Celebrities including centi-millionaire financier Kevin O'Leary, football star Tom Brady and basketball stars Steph Curry and Shaquille O'Neal all attached their images to FTX. Larry David played a crypto-skeptical curmudgeon in a much applauded FTX Super Bowl ad last year. Many of these well-known names are now facing a class-action lawsuit.

As actor Ben McKenzie has repeatedly said about his peers who used their fame to advertise for crypto projects, if you convince someone to buy into a Ponzi scheme, you’ve participated in a Ponzi scheme. Selling a cryptocurrency called “ethereumMAX” is not the same as posing for Pepsi Max photoshoots.

However, there is another group of people who need pointing out: social media influencers. In an age of bifurcated attention, where people are more likely to be watching YouTube than network television, micro-celebrities can have an outsized influence on their audience. That’s part of the reason FTX sponsored so many so-called creators, especially on YouTube.

Many of the most famous finance and money social media influencers were collaborating to push FTX, working under the same umbrella of the little-known social influencer company called Creators Agency. And yes, I do mean collaborating.

Creators Agency was founded by Apple Crider, Erika Kullberg and Eric Kullberg. Apple and Erika met at FinCon – a place where financial YouTubers congregate and learn how to recruit people to the products they hawk. Or as the event's tagline states, FinCon is "where money and media meet." According to Apple, Creators Agency are creators' "partners in crime," helping them with whatever they need, Erika said. It offers talent management services and claims to help creators go viral.

Celebrities and social media influences were at it pushing FTX. They worked for the same talent agency, Creators Agency. They got paid by Sam Bankman-Fried.

[Ptarmigan]

FTX scandal rocks Florida school district; victims may include high school teens
https://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/ftx-scandal-rocks-florida-school-district-victims-may-include-high-school-teens

As prosecutors and FTX's bankruptcy trustee comb through the wreckage of Sam Bankman-Fried’s ill-fated crypto empire, many questions remain unanswered.

Among the biggest: How did the man known and respected in the crypto industry as "SBF" commit what government officials believe was a multiyear fraud? Who else aided and abetted in the alleged scheme, where billions of dollars in customer money from his FTX exchange were looted to cover losses from an affiliated hedge fund?

Finally, and maybe most confounding to those who know Bankman-Fried: How could someone so seemingly virtuous, making heaps of money and giving lots of it away to dozens of charitable organizations, pull off what appears to be one of the most egregious financial crimes of the century?

The mystery of how Bankman-Fried went from saint to sinner may never be fully answered, of course. But it continues to stun people in places where you might expect it to, including his colleagues in the crypto industry who tell FOX Business they had no idea that FTX was built on a house of cards and run by an alleged crook.

FTX even affected high schools in Florida.

Some unlikely people and places are also grappling with what seems to be the dual realities of Bankman-Fried. It's hard to imagine that the school district of Broward County, Florida, would be mired in the controversy surrounding the FTX implosion. Yet the district and students who were on the receiving end of SBF's charitable efforts find themselves in the middle of the mess — and possibly in the crosshairs of FTX's bankruptcy trustee John Ray III, FOX Business has learned.

Broward County and its involvement with the SBF ecosystem at first seems insignificant to the magnitude of the alleged fraud and shock waves it has sent throughout the $1 trillion crypto industry. As much as $8 billion of customer money missing from supposedly safe accounts, used to finance unrelated activities, makes the fraud one of the biggest since Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme more than 20 years ago. The notion that a key figure in crypto looted billions of dollars in purportedly safe client money added more uncertainty to a market that has lost half of its value since 2021.

The FTX collapse will certainly drive more regulation that could crush digital asset values further. SBF, for his part, has been arrested and charged with eight counts of fraud and faces up to 115 years in prison. He has pleaded not guilty.

Some knew something was not right.

The hackathon has also become an increasingly ugly political issue in Broward County. Red Broward, a local conservative-leaning blog, has detailed the SBF connections to the hackathon as part of the continued dysfunction in the leadership of the Broward County school district, which has seen its share of state-mandated turnover for alleged ethical lapses.

Last week at a public board meeting, Chris Nelson, a local conservative political activist who refers to himself as an independent journalist, directly confronted Hixon.

"Students were awarded scholarships through this and now because of the bankruptcy they may not get these scholarships," he said. "What do you have to say about this? Do you feel that there is any responsibility on you for having promoted this thing? You and your friend Barbara Miller were promoting this thing."

Long read. Worth reading. What did they know about Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX?

[Ptarmigan]

Lawyers Seek To Question Bankman-Fried's Parents About Their Wealth; Goldman, JPM Revealed As FTX Creditors
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/lawyers-seek-question-bankman-frieds-parents-about-their-wealth-goldman-jpm-revealed-ftx

With the public court of opinion having long ago convicted crypto fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried - even as several notable holdouts such as Bill Ackman  and Andrew Ross-Sorkin remain -  attention is now turning to his just as "effectively altruistic" parents. According to a court filing by bankrupt FTX, SBF's parent should be forced to answer questions and provide financial documents about their personal wealth and any money they may have gotten from the 30-year-old scammer.

As Bloomberg notes, FTX asked a judge for permission to question under oath Bankman-Fried’s family and a handful of the company’s former top executives as part of a hunt for hidden assets that could be used to repay creditors owed billions of dollars. Or not so hidden: as a reminder in November it was revealed that SBF's disgraced "progressive" parents - Stanford University law professors Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried (who on her bio says she has "written extensively on questions of distributive justice, in the areas of tax policy, property theory and political theory" which apparently means using her son's stolen money to buy herself beachfront mansions) - purchased at least one $16.4 million beachfront "vacation home" in the gated Bahamas community of Old Fort Bay.

The court filing shows "the aggressive approach that FTX advisers are taking to recover any money that Bankman-Fried may have inappropriately handed out." The company was heavily involved in lobbying politicians and regulators and making campaign donations to Democrats and the White House. Federal prosecutors charged Bankman-Fried with fraud for his role in the collapse of FTX, which filed for bankruptcy in November.

Incidentally, when asked by Reuters in November why the couple decided to buy a vacation home in the Bahamas and how it was paid for, a spokesperson for the professors said only that Bankman and Fried had been trying to return the property to FTX. "Since before the bankruptcy proceedings, Mr. Bankman and Ms. Fried have been seeking to return the deed to the company and are awaiting further instructions," the spokesperson said.

Some of the money went to buying property.

[Ptarmigan]

Sam Bankman-Fried's other bail-backers revealed
https://www.foxbusiness.com/business-leaders/sam-bankman-frieds-bail-backers-revealed

The identities of two individuals who helped the parents of Sam Bankman-Fried secure the disgraced FTX founder's release on a $250 million bond are now public, and both have ties to Stanford University.

Unredacted court documents released Wednesday on the orders of U.S. District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan revealed former Stanford Law School Dean Larry Kramer was the co-signer of a $500,000 bond for Bankman-Fried, and Stanford research scientist Andreas Paepcke was the guarantor of a $200,000 bond for the former crypto king.

Bankman-Fried's parents, Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, are both professors at Stanford Law School and were revealed as their son's bail-backers upon his release from custody in late December. He is staying in their Palo Alto, California, home on house arrest as he awaits trial on several charges related to the collapse of his cryptocurrency exchange.

Sam Bankman-Fried's bail was paid by Larry Kramer and Andreas Paepcke. They work at Stanford.

[Ptarmigan]

Feds Drop Campaign Finance Charge Against SBF
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/feds-drop-campaign-finance-charge-against-sbf

Federal prosecutors have dropped the campaign finance violation charge against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, after The Bahamas told the United States that it never planned to extradite SBF on campaign finance violations - which the DOJ now says would violate 'its treaty obligations to The Bahamas.'

“The Government has been informed that The Bahamas notified the United States earlier today that The Bahamas did not intend to extradite the defendant on the campaign contributions count,” US Attorney Damian Williams wrote in a Wednesday night letter filing to drop the charge. “Accordingly, in keeping with its treaty obligations to The Bahamas, the Government does not intend to proceed to trial on the campaign contributions count.”

The filing was made hours after Judge Lewis A. Kaplan placed a gag order on SBF after prosecutors accused him of leaking the personal writings of former girlfriend and business partner, Caroline Ellison.

Recall that SBF was charged with fraud and campaign finance violations following the collapse of his crypto exchange. He was extradited from the Bahamas to face trial in a US federal court, and has been out on a $250 million bond while awaiting trial. SBF was notably accused of making over 300 political contributions to the tune of tens of millions of dollars through straw donors and using corporate funds.

"Bankman-Fried's use of straw donors allowed him to evade contribution limits on individual donations to candidates to whom he had already donated," reads a superseding indictment.

Sam Bankman-Fried has some very compromising information.

[Eupher]

Feds Drop Campaign Finance Charge Against SBF
https://www.zerohedge.com/political/feds-drop-campaign-finance-charge-against-sbf

Sam Bankman-Fried has some very compromising information.

Yep, it looks like SBF went to the Jeffrey Epstein School of Economics and Extortion. From the DOJ's POV, there are simply too many politicians and elite class Americans with too many numbered accounts in the Bahamas to play much of a game with SBF.

Let's just drop this case and move on, eh?   

[Ptarmigan]

U.S. judge sends FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried to jail over witness tampering
https://www.cnbc.com/2023/08/11/us-judge-sends-sam-bankman-fried-to-jail-over-witness-tampering.html

Sam Bankman-Fried will head to jail on Friday after a judge sided with a request by federal prosecutors to revoke the FTX founder’s bail over alleged witness tampering. Bankman-Fried was remanded to custody directly from a court hearing in New York.

Judge Lewis Kaplan denied Bankman-Fried’s request for delayed detention pending an appeal. Unless the appeal is successful, he is expected to remain in custody until his criminal trial, which is due to begin on Oct. 2.

“My conclusion is there is probable cause to believe the defendant tried to tamper with witnesses at least twice,” said Judge Kaplan during his ruling.

As the court marshals took Bankman-Fried into custody at the end of the hearing, the defendant took off his blazer, tie, emptied his pockets, and appeared to remove his shoes. Bankman-Fried’s parents were both in the gallery. His mother had her face buried in her hands for much of Judge Kaplan’s lengthy ruling.

Sam Bankman-Fried thought he can get away. Wrong! He must go to jail before trial.

[Old n Grumpy]

It’s good to see him get put away I thought it all was going to be swept under the rug

[Eupher]

It’s good to see him get put away I thought it all was going to be swept under the rug

Once in a while, the system hoses up. SBJ is an avowed leftist with big money that he throws threw at other leftists.

Maybe he won't throw so much any more.

[Ptarmigan]

Sam Bankman-Fried Complains Jail Is Refusing to Accommodate His Vegan Diet
https://www.dailyfetched.com/sam-bankman-fried-complains-jail-is-refusing-to-accommodate-his-vegan-diet/

Disgraced FTX founder and crypto scammer Sam Bankman-Fried has been denied vegan-friendly food while he waits for trial in prison after he pleaded not guilty to multiple charges relating to the collapse of his cryptocurrency company.

During a Manhattan federal court hearing on Tuesday, Sam Bankman-Fried attorneys said the Metropolitan Detention Center hadn’t given their client his medication for his ADHD, and he is surviving on water and bread alone due to not having access to vegan food.

“Your Honor, that’s outrageous and needs to be remedied,” Attorney Mark Cohen told a Manhattan federal judge, AP reported.

Cohen said his client was “being denied medication to focus” for his upcoming trial.

Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn said she would consider accommodating Bankman-Fried’s dietary restrictions and medical needs.

 

[enslaved1]

Sam Bankman-Fried Complains Jail Is Refusing to Accommodate His Vegan Diet
https://www.dailyfetched.com/sam-bankman-fried-complains-jail-is-refusing-to-accommodate-his-vegan-diet/

 

Worked in a couple of prisons, he don't gotta worry, there ain't no meat in that chow.   

[Old n Grumpy]

He can get used to eating dick with cream sauce 

[ADsOutburst]

Sam Bankman-Fried Complains Jail Is Refusing to Accommodate His Vegan Diet
https://www.dailyfetched.com/sam-bankman-fried-complains-jail-is-refusing-to-accommodate-his-vegan-diet/

 

I recall some similar complaints from Ghislaine Maxwell’s lawyer around the time of her trial.

Prison is already not a nice place to be, but I imagine it’s doubly bad if you’re used to living like royalty.

[DefiantSix]

He can get used to eating dick with cream sauce 

Oh, I'm pretty sure the bulk of his diet will consist of Poly-fill...

[Ptarmigan]

Sam Bankman-Fried Loses Appeal To Be Released From Brooklyn Jail
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/sbfs-appeal-be-released-brooklyn-jail-denied

Less than a month after disgraced former crypto billionaire, Sam Bankman-Fried's bail was revoked and he was thrown in prison - where his vegan diet and supplies of Adderall were replaced with water, bread and peanut butter - on Wednesday afternoon the crypto fraudster who desperately tried to bribe every Democrat he could find (and almost succeeded), lost an appeal asking to released from a Brooklyn jail after complaining he cannot properly prepare for his trial over the collapse of his FTX cryptocurrency exchange.

In rejecting Bankman-Fried's request, the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan nonetheless said it would ask the next available three-judge panel to consider it.

As we reported on Aug 11, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan revoked Bankman-Fried's $250 million bail after finding that the former billionaire likely tampered with witnesses at least twice. Bankman-Fried quickly appealed, arguing he would be unable to "properly prepare" for his scheduled Oct. 3 trial from behind bars.

Prosecutors, who accused the 31-year-old of stealing billions from FTX customers to plug holes at his Alameda Research hedge fund - pushed for Bankman-Fried to be jailed after he shared the personal writings of Caroline Ellison, Alameda's former chief executive and his onetime romantic partner, with a New York Times reporter.

Oh well.

[Ptarmigan]

To Absolutely No One's Surprise, Sam Bankman-Fried Was Just Found Guilty On All 7 Counts In The FTX Case And Faces Over 100 Years In Prison
https://www.barstoolsports.com/blog/3491974/to-absolutely-no-ones-surprise-sam-bankman-fried-was-just-found-guilty-on-all-7-counts-in-the-ftx-case-and-faces-over-100-years-in-prison

SAM BANKMAN FRIED IS GUILTY ON ALL COUNTS!!!https://t.co/0CkDs6WzHgpic.twitter.com/c7XdrDV7co

— Coffeezilla (@coffeebreak_YT)November 2, 2023
BREAKING: A jury has found Sam Bankman-Fried guilty of all 7 criminal counts against him.@Kr00neyreports.https://t.co/NML57SVCdLpic.twitter.com/PccrhR0Eac

— CNBC (@CNBC)November 2, 2023
Late verdict just dropped here in New York City! Good riddance to SBF who never really had a chance this trial. It took the jury less than 5 hours to find him guilty on all seven charges, which he now faces over 100 years in prison for. I guess I don't know what is normal, but that seems outrageously quick for a case of this magnitude. This feels a little bit like justice to the tons of people that were defrauded while this guy had sex orgies in the Bahamas with his equally freak of a girlfriend who surely didn't help him at trial:

Thank god this story comes to an end and we likely never have to hear about her or Bankman-Fried ever again. I've never been more uncomfortable than reading the stories about their orgy cult that they were operating while rich beyond generations and generations of belief. And I'm no legal expert here, but it turns out his strategy of answering the prosecutor's questions in a way that he thought it should have been asked instead didn't work:

So this didn't workhttps://t.co/BbjNubvctXpic.twitter.com/cAxc7evKZv

— I'm on bluesky now (@InternetHippo)November 2, 2023
It also turns out pumping zillions of dollars into the Dems doesn't always work out in your favor in the court room either. SafeMoon is seemingly next in what is a clear notice from the government that crypto bad eggs will be dealt with to the harshest extent of the law. It's a little interesting we couldn't get footage in the courtroom, especially in the Year of Our Lord 2023 when virtually everything seems to be broadcasted, a la Depp/Heard. So the only remaining footage we'll probably have to laugh at is SBF's attempt at being a TikTokker, bragging about his grandiose wealth and status that came to as crashing of an end as is possible in this life. I say again good riddance.

Sam Bankman-Fried has been found guilty on all charges. He could spend the rest of his life in prison.