Last month, senior FTX executive Sam Bankman-Fried and his allies notified Bahamian regulators of the allegations, two days before the crypto platform filed for bankruptcy, according to court filings.
Ryan Salame, who was CEO of FTX Digital Markets before its collapse, told authorities on November 9 that FTX client funds were being secretly transferred to “cover financial losses” at Alameda Research – a sister cryptocurrency hedge fund. owns By Bankman-Fried.
Salameh, 29, told regulators that only three FTX executives had the necessary authority to approve the cash transfers — Bankman-Fried, FTX founder Gary Wang and former engineering director Nishad Singh.
In a conference call with the executive director of the Bahamas Securities Commission, Salame said that “such transfers are not permitted and therefore may constitute misappropriation, theft, fraud or other crime.” According to Bloomberg.
Salama’s suggestion that panicked customers demand the return of their crypto deposits after banking on FTX has sparked a scramble by the Bahamian government to investigate possible wrongdoing at FTX.
Like Bankman-Fried, Salame used his fortune in FTX as a major political donor in the 2022 midterm election race. While Bankman-Fried is the second largest donor to Democratic candidates and causes, Salame has given $20 million to Republicans.
Bankman-Fried apologized to Bahamas Attorney General Ryan Pinder on Nov. 9 for her “delayed response,” court documents show. Her father, law professor Joseph Bankman, was reportedly CC’d in the email.
“It’s been a tough week, but it’s for me. Myself and Joe (cc’ed) will be sensitive going forward,” Bankman-Fried wrote in a letter to her father.
In congressional testimony this week, FTX’s new CEO, John Ray, confirmed that he is “investigating” Bankman-Fried’s parents, Bankman, and Barbara Fried, a Stanford law professor, over potential conduct at the company.
Ray also found that Bankman and Fried “received payments” from FTX and that Bankman provided legal advice to his son.
FTX and more than 100 of its affiliates filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 11 — two days after Salameh contacted authorities. The bankruptcy followed a sudden liquidity crisis as investors scrambled to pull their money out of the sinking platform. That same day, Bankman-Fried resigned as CEO.
Bankman-Fried, 30, was arrested Monday at her home in the Bahamas and faces eight federal charges, including wire fraud, wire fraud, securities fraud, money laundering and campaign finance violations. If convicted on all counts, he could face up to 115 years in prison.
Get the latest from The Post on the Sam Bankman-Fried FTX scandal
- Who are the parents of Sam Bankman-Fried? Meet law professors Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried
- Sam Bankman-Fried’s Bahamas prison infested with rats and maggots: ‘Not fit for humanity’
- Sam Bankman-Fried’s ex Caroline Ellison is likely working with the feds against him
Bankman-Fried is being held in a prison in the rat-infested Bahamas until his next court appearance in February.
Court documents provided the first clear indication of an FTX insider who cooperated with authorities in the alleged wrongdoing of Bankman-Fried and his close advisers.
Caroline Ellison, Bankman-Fried’s ex-girlfriend and former CEO of Alameda Research, was photographed earlier this month at a coffee shop in Lower Manhattan, where he hired Stephanie Avakian, a partner at the Wilmer Hale law firm and a former SEC enforcer. department head, to defend him in court.
Ellison’s actions led to widespread speculation that Banker-Fried might be overthrown.
Former SEC attorney Howard Fisher told The Post this week that Ellison will work with the feds while he continues his case.
“He would have the greatest incentive to cooperate because Bankman-Fried could try to finger him to exonerate himself,” Fischer said.
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