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☆ Sam Bankman-Fried took 21 private jet trips to and from Washington, and chartered Cessnas to transport Amazon packages to FTX HQ, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-30 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

FTX spent $15 million on flights and plane upgrades with a charter airline, a court filing said. Bankman-Fried made 21 trips to or from Washington, DC, on a Learjet 60, a person with direct knowledge told Insider. AdvertisementAdvertisementSam Bankman-Fried and FTX frequently chartered private jets from a Bahamian company called Trans Island Airways (TIA), three people familiar with the matter told Insider. They added that each trip cost between $20,000 and $30,000, which means the Learjet flights alone could cost more than $1 million. AdvertisementAdvertisementProsecutors allege that Bankman-Fried orchestrated a scheme that involved funneling $100 million of FTX funds through executives to politicians .

Persons: FTX, Fried, —, Sam Bankman, Joe Bankman, Jerome Powell, Martin, Ryan Salame, Bankman, Michael Lewis, Lewis, Sam, Ryan, Sam's Organizations: Service, Trans Island Airways, TIA, Amazon, Bombardier Global, Embraer ERJ, Trans, Airways, Prosecutors, Capitol, Yorker, New York Times, Federal, Learjet, Bankman, TIA's, Cessna, Fort, Fort Lauderdale Executive Airport, Twitter Locations: Washington, DC, Florida, Bahamas, Caribbean, New York, Chicago, Fort Lauderdale

☆ Ex-FTX executive Salame agrees to plead guilty to US criminal charges, lawyer says
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-07 | by ( Luc Cohen | Thomson Reuters | Reports On The New York Federal Courts. Previously Worked As A Correspondent In Venezuela | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Salame appeared before U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan less than one month before Bankman-Fried's scheduled Oct. 3 trial on fraud and conspiracy charges stemming from now-bankrupt FTX's November 2022 collapse. Salame said that he had agreed to forfeit more than $1.5 billion in connection with the plea deal. Salame had worked for Ernst & Young and Circle Internet Financial before joining FTX Digital Markets. Salame was not charged at the time, and his lawyer told prosecutors he would invoke his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination if called to testify. Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise and Mark PorterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Ryan Salame, Sam Bankman, Salame, District Judge Lewis Kaplan, Kaplan, Fried, Caroline Ellison, Gary Wang, Nishad Singh, Singh, Luc Cohen, Emelia Sithole, Mark Porter Organizations: FTX's, U.S, District, Prosecutors, Alameda Research, Former Alameda, Bankman, Ernst & Young, Circle, FTX Digital, Republican, Democratic, Securities Commission, FTX, New York Times, Thomson Locations: Manhattan, Bahamas, Caribbean, Alameda, New York

Salame also pleaded guilty to conspiring to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business. But there was no indication that he was cooperating with the prosecution or would testify against Bankman-Fried at trial. Former Alameda Chief Executive Officer Caroline Ellison, former FTX technology chief Gary Wang and former FTX engineering chief Nishad Singh previously pleaded guilty and are expected to testify against Bankman-Fried. Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty. His lawyer told prosecutors that if called to testify Salame would invoke his right under the U.S. Constitution's Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination.

Persons: Ryan Salame, Sam Bankman, Fried, District Judge Lewis Kaplan, Kaplan, Salame, Jason Linder, Caroline Ellison, Gary Wang, Nishad Singh, Singh, Luc Cohen, Will Dunham, Emelia, Mark Porter Organizations: FTX's, U.S, District, Bankman, Alameda, Porsche, Alameda Research, Prosecutors, Ernst & Young, Circle, FTX Digital, Republican, Democratic, Constitution's, Securities Commission, FTX, New York Times, Thomson Locations: Manhattan, Massachusetts, Salame, Bahamas, Caribbean, Alameda, New York

☆ Sam Bankman-Fried donated millions to 'weed out anti-crypto' politicians, new evidence says
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-15 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Prosecutors say Sam Bankman-Fried donated $100 million to politicians using FTX funds. Messages from Ryan Salame quoted in a court filing say SBF wanted "to weed out anti-crypto" politicians. Although prosecutors have put that number as high as $100 million because they say Bankman-Fried funneled millions more through FTX executives. Prosecutors' evidence includes messages from Ryan Salame, the former co-CEO of FTX's Bahamian affiliate company, who prosecutors say is "a co-conspirator in the defendant's illegal campaign finance scheme." Salame's message added it was likely Bankman-Fried would "route money through me to weed out that republican side," according to the filing.

Persons: Sam Bankman, Fried, Ryan Salame, SBF, George Soros, Mike Bloomberg, hasn't, Salame Organizations: Morning, Washington D.C, Prosecutors, Republicans, FTX's Bahamian, Republican Locations: Washington, The Bahamas

☆ Bankman-Fried used $100 mln in stolen FTX funds for political donations, US says
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-14 | by ( Luc Cohen | Thomson Reuters | Reports On The New York Federal Courts. Previously Worked As A Correspondent In Venezuela | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Bankman-Fried has previously pleaded not guilty to stealing billions of dollars in FTX customer funds to plug losses at Alameda Research, his crypto-focused hedge fund. Kaplan jailed him last Friday ahead of his Oct. 2 trial, after finding probable cause that Bankman-Fried tampered with witnesses. The November 2022 collapse of FTX after a flurry of customer withdrawals destroyed his wealth and stained his reputation. Bankman-Fried's indictment does not name the two people prosecutors say he used for "straw donors" to donate money at his direction. He donated $9.7 million to Democratic candidates and causes, and said in court he knew the money came from FTX customers.

Persons: Sam Bankman, Eduardo Munoz, Fried, FTX, District Judge Lewis Kaplan, Mark Botnick, Kaplan, Palo, Nishad Singh, Ryan Salame, Singh, Luc Cohen, Chris Reese, David Gregorio, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: REUTERS, Republicans, U.S, District, Alameda Research, Democratic, Federal, Commission, Republican, Bloomberg, Thomson Locations: New York, U.S, Manhattan, Bahamas, Palo Alto , California, San Jose , California

NEW YORK, June 9 (Reuters) - Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX received court permission on Friday to remove customer names from all filings in its bankruptcy case, persuading a U.S. judge that publishing the names would put people at risk of scams and identity theft. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge John Dorsey in Wilmington, Delaware, ruled that FTX can permanently redact the names of individual customers from its bankruptcy filings, after hearing testimony that publishing customers' names would place them at risk even if other identifying information like their email address was kept secret. In January, Dorsey had allowed FTX to keep secret the names of 9 million of its individual customers for three months. On Friday, Dorsey also authorized FTX to remove the names of companies and institutional investors from its customer lists on a temporary basis, saying FTX will have to make a new request in 90 days. FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried and several company insiders have been indicted on fraud charges for their role in the company's collapse.

Persons: FTX, John Dorsey, Dorsey, liquidators, Sam Bankman, Dietrich Knauth, Alexia Garamfalvi, Rosalba O'Brien Organizations: YORK, FTX's, Bahamian, FTX, Thomson Locations: U.S, Wilmington , Delaware, Bahamas, Delaware

☆ FBI searches the $4 million home of former FTX exec Ryan Salame, report says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-28 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

Ryan Salame was the co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets, FTX's Bahamian subsidiary. The FBI searched the home of the former co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets, Ryan Salame, on Thursday morning, The New York Times reported. FTX Digital Markets was the Bahamian subsidiary of Sam Bankman-Fried's fallen crypto exchange, FTX. Prosecutors allege Bankman-Fried funneled $100 million in political donations through FTX executives, which allowed him to exceed contribution limits. The FBI and a lawyer for Salame did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment, sent outside US working hours.

☆ FTX spent nearly $7 million on food and over $15 million on luxury Bahamian hotels in just 9 months, court documents show
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-06 | by ( Pete Syme | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

FTX's Bahamian entity spent nearly $40 million on hotels, food, and travel in just nine months. They show the company spent almost $6 million at a single hotel and $1 million on one caterer. Lawyers pointed out that the crypto exchange's Bahamian company, FTX Digital Markets, generated no customer revenue, but spent lavishly. From January to September 2022, the company spent $15.4 million on luxury hotels and accommodation, the filings say. Almost half of that was spent on catering services, with the largest amount, $1.4 million, spent on catering at the Hyatt.

☆ Bahamian regulator says it seized $3.5 billion of FTX crypto assets for 'safekeeping'
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-30 | by ( Ryan Browne | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The Securities Commission of The Bahamas says it seized $3.5 billion worth of cryptocurrency from collapsed crypto exchange FTX. In a media release late Thursday, the watchdog confirmed the total sum taken from FTX's Bahamian subsidiary, FTX Digital Markets, and added that the funds were moved into its own digital wallets "for safekeeping." The regulator had previously confirmed it was holding some of FTX's digital assets but did not specify the amount. The transfer took place on Nov. 12, the day after FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the U.S. The regulator said it took the funds after receiving information from Sam Bankman-Fried, FTX's disgraced co-founder, concerning cyberattacks on the systems of FTX's Bahamian unit.

Dec 22 (Reuters) - FTX founder and former Chief Executive Sam Bankman-Fried, who faces U.S. fraud charges over the collapse of FTX, ran his crypto empire with a number of associates. GARY WANGGary Wang co-founded FTX and Alameda Research with Bankman-Fried, and served as FTX's chief technology officer. He and Bankman-Fried met at a math camp in high school and became college roommates, Bankman-Fried wrote in a now-unavailable FTX blog. Wang worked as a software engineer at Google before co-founding FTX and Alameda, according to an archived webpage for the FTX Future Fund, the company's charitable effort. NISHAD SINGHNishad Singh was a best friend of Bankman-Fried's brother in high school, Bankman-Fried wrote in the deleted blog post.

FTX attorney James Bromley told Dorsey that the Bahamian government has previously obtained information from FTX Digital Market's liquidators and used it to siphon digital assets away from FTX. The Securities Commission of the Bahamas (SCB) has previously disputed FTX's "misstatements" about the Bahamian government's response to FTX's collapse. Chris Shore, an attorney for the Bahamas-based liquidators, told Dorsey that the liquidators were not working at the direction of the Bahamian government. Dorsey began the hearing by asking whether FTX and the Bahamas liquidators could reach a compromise on data sharing before Bromley shot that suggestion down. "Unlike the Chapter 11 process, there is no transparency in the process in the Bahamas," Ray said.

- Ray said he had secured $740 million in cryptocurrency, a "fraction" of what he hopes to recover during the bankruptcy. Bankman-Fried and his co-founders failed to identify wallets that might contain FTX assets, he added. - Record keeping was so lax that Ray said he was unable to compile a complete list of FTX employees. - The second silo is Alameda Research LLC, which Ray described as a crypto hedge fund owned by Bankman-Fried and Wang with assets of $13.46 billion. - The other silos were Ventures, which manages private investments and had around $2 billion in assets, and Dotcom, which owned non-U.S. exchanges with $2.25 billion in assets.

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