DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Judge considers revoking guilty plea of FTX executive Ryan Salame, accusing him of lying under oath
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-12 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

US District Judge Lewis Kaplan scheduled the hearing after Ryan Salame, a former executive of Alameda Research and FTX Digital Markets, tried to withdraw his guilty plea. Salame said prosecutors broke a promise to him by later indicting his romantic partner, Michelle Bond — a claim that prosecutors vigorously disputed. Instead, Kaplan grilled Salame under oath for over 30 minutes in his Manhattan courtroom Thursday morning, accusing him of misrepresenting the plea negotiations. That left Kaplan in a bind: Either Salame lied in his plea hearing, throwing the plea into doubt. Bond would not be pursued if I plead guilty," Salame said.

Persons: —, who's, Lewis Kaplan, Ryan Salame, Salame, Michelle Bond, Kaplan, Sam Bankman, Salame didn't, Bond, FTX, Mary Altaffer, wasn't, Danielle Sassoon, Christopher Bartolomucci, he'll, Salame's Organizations: Service, Alameda Research, FTX, Markets, Business, Prosecutors, AP, US, Office, Southern, of Locations: Manhattan, Alameda, of New York

☆ Former FTX exec Ryan Salame returns to court after waffling on guilty plea
▼ + stars: | 2024-09-12 | by ( Mackenzie Sigalos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Ryan Salame, the former co-chief executive of FTX Digital Markets, exits the Federal Court after sentencing in New York City, U.S., May 28, 2024. Former FTX executive Ryan Salame is back in court on Thursday, as Judge Lewis Kaplan looks for answers about the back-room dealings that led to Salame's criminal plea deal, which resulted in a 7.5-year prison sentence. Bond, who was previously a lawyer with the SEC, was indicted in August on campaign finance charges tied to her unsuccessful run for Congress in 2022. The four-count indictment against Bond was unsealed a day after Salame, the father of their nine-month-old child, asked Kaplan to void his plea. But Salame quickly reversed course, submitting a motion to the court within days to withdraw the petition to vacate his guilty verdict.

Persons: Ryan Salame, Lewis Kaplan, Sam Bankman, Kaplan, Salame, Michelle Bond, Bond, Fried Organizations: FTX, Salame, Manhattan U.S, Attorney's, SEC, Prosecutors Locations: New York City, U.S, Salame's

Ryan Salame, former co-chief executive officer of FTX Digital Markets Ltd., exits federal court in New York, US, on Tuesday, May 28, 2024. Ryan Salame, a former top lieutenant at the failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, asked a New York federal judge Wednesday to void his guilty plea to campaign finance and money-transmitting crimes, saying prosecutors are reneging on a key element of his plea agreement. Nicholas Biase, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney's Office, declined to comment on Salame's filing. The charges against Salame stemmed from his involvement in a multi-million dollar campaign finance scheme during his tenure at FTX. Bankman-Fried was allegedly also deeply involved in the campaign finance scheme.

Persons: Ryan Salame, Michelle Bond, Bond, Salame, Lewis Kaplan, Salame's, Nicholas Biase, Sam Bankman, Fried, Caroline Ellison, Nishad Singh, Gary Wang, Singh, Wang Organizations: FTX Digital Markets, New, New York federal, Manhattan U.S, Attorney's, Salame, Government, U.S, Bankman, Alameda Research Locations: New York, FTX

☆ As Ryan Salame stares down years in prison for his role in FTX, he's spending his time doing what he loves: posting
▼ + stars: | 2024-08-02 | by ( Haven Orecchio-Egresitz | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Read previewIn May, Ryan Salame was sentenced to 7½ years in prison for his role in Sam Bankman-Fried's multi-billion-dollar cryptocurrency fraud. In May, US District Judge Lewis Kaplan — who also oversaw Bankman-Fried's trial — sentenced Salame to 7.5 years in prison, higher than what prosecutors recommended. AdvertisementSalame says without evidence that a key witness in Bankman-Fried's trial liedSalame pleaded guilty to charges against him in September, shortly before the start of Bankman-Fried's criminal trial in Manhattan. At the trial, Singh said he initially cared about the political donations, but later just did whatever Salame told him to. In social media posts, Salame said Singh wasn't being truthful about his role in the use of FTX customer funds.

Persons: —, Ryan Salame, Sam Bankman, Salame, Fried, SBF, Trump, Donald Trump, RyAN, Lewis Kaplan —, Kaplan, ANGELA WEISS, weren't, German Shepherd, Caroline Ellison, Gary Wang, Nashad Singh —, Wang, Singh, Ellison hasn't, Salame didn't, didn't, Nishad Singh, FTX, Ellison, Singh wasn't, Nishad, I've, Guy, hasn't, he's, Joe Biden, Bitcoin, Gary Gensler, Biden, Kamala Harris Organizations: Service, Business, Alameda Research, US Bureau of Prisons, US, Mega, FTX, Circle Trade, CPA, HK, Republican Party, Twitter, Alamada Research, Prosecutors, Getty, FTX's, Office, Southern, of, Bankman, Republican, Alameda, SEC, Trump Card Locations: Bankman, FTX, Alameda, Bahamas, America, Nashville, Manhattan, Washington ,, United States, German, of New York, York

☆ FTX exec who turned on Sam Bankman-Fried sentenced to 7.5 years in prison
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-28 | by ( Mackenzie Sigalos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Ryan Salame, a former top lieutenant of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, has been sentenced to 90 months, or seven and a half years, in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. In September, Salame pleaded guilty to conspiracy to make unlawful political contributions, defraud the Federal Election Commission, and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money-transmitting business. Judge Lewis Kaplan sentenced Sam Bankman-Fried to 25 years in prison in March. Salame spent millions of dollars on real estate and campaign donations during his tenure. Meanwhile, data from the Federal Election Commission shows that Salame gave more than $24 million to Republican candidates and causes in the 2022 election cycle.

Persons: Ryan Salame, Sam Bankman, Salame, Judge Lewis Kaplan Organizations: FTX Digital Markets, Commission, Alameda Research, FTX's, FTX, New Providence, Federal, Republican Locations: New York, Bankman, New, U.S

☆ Caroline Ellison says she wasn't an ambitious person until she met Sam Bankman-Fried
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-12 | by ( Mackenzie Sigalos | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Caroline Ellison, former chief executive officer of Alameda Research LLC, arrives to court in New York, US, on Thursday, Oct. 12, 2023. Ellison, ex-girlfriend of FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried, outlined for a New York jury Wednesday how she worked with Sam Bankman-Fried to deceive lenders and customers to build his multi-billion dollar cryptocurrency empire, and their failed attempts to prevent a spectacular collapse. She pleaded guilty in December to two counts of wire fraud, two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. By 2021, she testified, Bankman-Fried had largely stopped coming into the Alameda office and had left more of the job to Ellison. Ellison also testified that Bankman-Fried had discussed adding a new co-CEO when Trabucco left, but she resisted.

Persons: Caroline Ellison, Ellison, FTX, Sam Bankman, Stephanie Keith, Mark Cohen, Lewis Kaplan, Cohen, Sam Trabucco, Alameda's, Trabucco, Fried, Ryan Salame, Ellison's Organizations: Alameda Research, New, Bloomberg, Getty, FTX Locations: New York, Manhattan, Alameda

Follow live updates on the Sam Bankman-Fried fraud trial. A year ago, Sam Bankman-Fried was a fixture on magazine covers and in the halls of Congress, a tousle-haired crypto billionaire who hobnobbed with movie stars and bankrolled political campaigns. The charges against Mr. Bankman-Fried, 31, have put the rest of the crypto industry on trial with him. He has emerged as a symbol of the unrestrained hubris and shady deal-making that turned cryptocurrencies into a multitrillion-dollar industry during the pandemic. The demise of FTX in November helped burst that bubble, sending other high-profile companies into bankruptcy and provoking a government crackdown.

Persons: Sam Bankman, Fried Locations: Manhattan

FTX entered bankruptcy in November when the global exchange ran out of money after the equivalent of a bank run. Several other former FTX executives have pleaded guilty to fraud and conspiracy charges and are cooperating with investigators. The scheme involved Bankman-Fried receiving a loan from Alameda, then transferring the money to his parents. According to FEC records, Singh contributed roughly $9.7 million in 2022 and in late 2020 to various candidates and committees. The judge revoked Bankman-Fried’s bail last month after finding probable cause that he had tampered with witnesses.

Persons: Sam Bankman, ”, Allan Joseph Bankman, Barbara Fried, FTX, Fried, Bankman, ’, “ Bankman, John Ray III, Joe, Barbara, Ray, “ Fried, Nishad Singh, ” Singh, Singh, Ryan Salame Organizations: —, FTX, Stanford University, Alameda Research, Stanford, FTX Group, Bankman, FEC, FTX Digital Markets Locations: Del, Bahamas, Delaware, Manhattan, Alameda, FTX

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

NEW YORK (AP) — Another top executive at the failed FTX cryptocurrency exchange is scheduled to appear in court in New York Thursday afternoon to face undisclosed criminal charges. Ryan Salame, the former co-chief executive of FTX Digital Markets, was set to appear before a judge at 3 p.m. at the U.S. district court in Manhattan. Federal prosecutors didn't immediately disclose what charges Salame is facing or reveal details about the case. Before FTX collapsed and declared bankruptcy in November, Bankman-Fried had been one of the best-known U.S. crypto entrepreneurs. Bankman-Fried and people associated with his companies, including Salame, were also heavy givers to political campaigns.

Persons: Ryan Salame, didn't, Jason Linder, FTX, Sam Bankman, Caroline Ellison, Nishad Singh, Gary Wang, Fried, Larry David, Salame Organizations: FTX, Alameda Research Locations: New York, U.S, Manhattan, Bahamas, Alameda, Bankman

☆ 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

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

Dorsey questioned the value of a Bahamian court ruling during a Thursday court hearing in Wilmington, Delaware, saying that he would retain authority over the $7 billion in assets recovered by the U.S. debtors no matter what the Bahamian court rules. "It doesn't go to FTX Digital until I say it goes to FTX Digital," Dorsey said. The sides offered very different descriptions of how important FTX Digital was to the crypto exchange's operations. A court ruling in their favor could place the Bahamian company, and not the U.S. debtors, in charge of collecting assets and deciding how to distribute them to FTX customers. The case is FTX Trading, U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, No.

Persons: John Dorsey, Dorsey, Chris Shore, Sam Bankman, Bankman, Fried's, Andy Dietderich, Brian Glueckstein, James Bromley of Sullivan, Cromwell, Chris Shore of, FTX, Dietrich Knauth Organizations: U.S, FTX's U.S, FTX Digital, FTX, Bahamian, Bankruptcy, District of, Chris Shore of White, Thomson, & & $ Locations: Delaware, Bahamas, Wilmington , Delaware, U.S, Hong Kong, District of 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.

Companies FTX Trading Limited FollowMarch 20 (Reuters) - Bankrupt crypto exchange FTX on Sunday sued the liquidators overseeing the wind-down of its Bahamian affiliate FTX Digital Markets, accusing them of wrongly claiming ownership of the exchange's assets. FTX called FTX DM a "fraudulent enterprise", initially set up only to be a "local service company", which did not own the FTX.com exchange or any of the cryptocurrency seized. FTX has been at odds with Bahamian officials ever since filing for bankruptcy protection on Nov. 11. The Securities Commission of the Bahamas began liquidation proceedings against FTX DM a day before the U.S. bankruptcy filing of FTX Trading and more than 100 affiliates, and the two sides have sparred over ownership of FTX assets and access to company data. FTX reported this month that Bankman-Fried took $2.2 billion in funds from the company during a period when the crypto exchange lost $8 billion of customer money.

☆ SBF funneled $100 million in political donations for 'woke shit' and to Republicans through 2 executives to appear bipartisan, prosecutors say in new indictment
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Jacob Shamsian | Sindhu Sundar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

Sam Bankman-Fried put political donations through two FTX execs to appear bipartisan, prosecutors say. An internal Alameda spreadsheet noted over $100 million in political contributions, according to the filing. A CNBC analysis of his political contributions beginning in 2020 found he donated more than $13 million to causes affiliated with the Democratic party. CC-1, prosecutors wrote, ultimately became on-paper "one of the largest Democratic donors in the 2022 midterm elections and helped further Bankman-Fried's political agenda." Bankman-Fried preferred to "keep contributions to Republicans 'dark'," but was the real engine behind CC-2's donations to the GOP, prosecutors wrote.

☆ Feds seized nearly $700 million from FTX founder Bankman-Fried
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( Dietrich Knauth | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 20 (Reuters) - Federal prosecutors have seized nearly $700 million in assets from FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried in January, largely in the form of Robinhood stock, according to a Friday court filing. Bankman-Fried, who has been accused of stealing billions of dollars from FTX customers to pay debts incurred by his crypto-focused hedge fund, has pleaded not guilty to fraud charges. The ownership of the seized Robinhood shares, valued at about $525 million, has been the subject of disputes between Bankman-Fried, FTX, and bankrupt crypto lender BlockFi. The DOJ seized more than $7 million from other Silvergate accounts associated with Bankman-Fried and FTX. The DOJ previously seized nearly $50 million from an FTX Digital Markets account at Moonstone Bank, a small bank in Washington state.

Federal prosecutors seized nearly $700 million in cash and assets connected to Sam Bankman-Fried, primarily in the form of Robinhood shares that were owned by the FTX founder, a court filing revealed Friday. Bankman-Fried was arrested on criminal fraud charges in December and is released on a $250 million bond as he awaits trial. Federal prosecutors have alleged that the Robinhood shares were purchased using allegedly stolen customer funds. Bankman-Fried has denied misappropriating customer assets. Those three Binance accounts were the only seized assets that did not have values attached to them.

Jan 6 (Reuters) - FTX's U.S.-based bankruptcy team have agreed to coordinate with liquidators winding down the crypto exchange's operations in the Bahamas, resolving a dispute that threatened the recovery of what could be billions of dollars in lost funds. FTX’s U.S. bankruptcy team has been at odds with Bahamian officials since November, when competing bankruptcies were filed in the two countries. The Securities Commission of the Bahamas began liquidation proceedings on Nov. 10 against FTX Digital Markets Ltd., the company's Bahamas-based unit. The next day a U.S. Chapter 11 proceeding was filed in Delaware, which included more than 100 FTX entities including FTX Trading and crypto hedge fund Alameda Research. Bahamian regulators have seized FTX assets, which officials said was meant to safeguard assets that will ultimately be returned to creditors of FTX Digital Markets.

☆ 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.

☆ Crypto firms off to rocky start in 2023 with outflows, layoffs and a lawsuit
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Hannah Lang | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

The fallout from the collapse of crypto exchange FTX and criminal charges leveled against its founder Sam Bankman-Fried weighed heavily on the sector this week. Among those hit were Genesis Global Capital, which laid off staff, and crypto-focused Silvergate Bank, which reported a large fall in deposits. Another crypto entrepreneur, Alex Mashinsky, the founder and former CEO of Celsius Network, also encountered a legal battle on Thursday. The accounts at Silvergate Bank and Farmington State Bank, which does business as Moonstone Bank, held about $143 million, court records showed. Crypto exchange Gemini, which had a crypto lending product in partnership with Genesis, and other Genesis creditors have been agitating for a solution to avoid a situation similar to FTX’s rapid descent into bankruptcy.

☆ Judge Ordered Seizure of Money from FTX Digital Markets Accounts at Silvergate
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-05 | by ( Peter Rudegeair | Alexander Saeedy | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

A federal judge recently ordered the seizure of about $93 million that an FTX unit was keeping in accounts at Silvergate Capital Corp., according to a court filing Wednesday. Silvergate disclosed the seizure in a filing to a Delaware bankruptcy court handling the insolvency of FTX Digital Markets, a Bahamian-based subsidiary of crypto exchange FTX. The joint provisional liquidators of FTX Digital Markets in the Bahamas previously asked the court on Dec. 23 to transfer the $93 million out of Silvergate to “ensure the safety” of the funds.

[1/3] The logo of Robinhood Markets, Inc. is seen at a pop-up event on Wall Street after the company's IPO in New York City, U.S., July 29, 2021. The Department of Justice did not believe the 56 million shares of Robinhood, worth about $465 million, were property of a bankruptcy estate, U.S. attorney Seth Shapiro told U.S. Bankruptcy Judge John Dorsey, who is overseeing the FTX bankruptcy. Bankrupt crypto firm BlockFi, FTX and liquidators in Antigua have all laid claim to the Robinhood stock, along with Bankman-Fried. He said the Robinhood shares were subject to litigation and it was an "open question" about who owns them. BlockFi is suing Emergent in a bid to seize the Robinhood stock, which was pledged by Alameda as collateral to guarantee repayment of a loan made by BlockFi.

[1/3] The logo of Robinhood Markets, Inc. is seen at a pop-up event on Wall Street after the company's IPO in New York City, U.S., July 29, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew KellyJan 4 (Reuters) - U.S. prosecutors are in the process of seizing shares of Robinhood Markets Inc (HOOD.O) tied to Sam Bankman-Fried, who has been charged with fraud in the collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, a U.S. attorney told a judge on Wednesday. He said the Robinhood shares were subject to litigation and it was an "open question" about who owns them. The Robinhood stock, worth about $465 million at Wednesday's late afternoon price of $8.30 per share, is also being claimed by BlockFi Inc, another bankrupt crypto firm. BlockFi is suing Emergent in a bid to seize the Robinhood stock, which was pledged by Alameda as collateral to guarantee repayment of a loan made by BlockFi.

☆ Bahamas regulator sticks to estimate of FTX assets
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Jan 2 (Reuters) - The Securities Commission of the Bahamas (SCB) rebuffed on Monday FTX's claims about the digital assets of its Bahamas unit held by the regulator, saying the debtors of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange had "incomplete information". Last month, the SCB said it had seized more than $3.5 billion in cryptocurrency from the unit, FTX Digital Markets, which it was holding for future repayment to customers and other creditors. FTX disputed SCB's calculations, saying its digital assets seized in November were worth just $296 million and not $3.5 billion. "Such public assertions by the Chapter 11 debtors werebased on incomplete information," the regulator said in a statement on Monday. Bahamas officials have sought access to FTX's records to help liquidate FTX Digital Markets, but the company's U.S. bankruptcy team said it did not trust them with the information.

Search resuls for: "FTX Digital"

25 mentions found