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- The US DOJ said that the seized assets constitute property in violations of crimes involving money laundering and wire fraud.
- The Justice Department is in the process of seizing assets from a number of banks such as Silvergate, which was closely linked to FTX.
Troubles continue to mount for San Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founder of crypto exchange FTX, as the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) seize Robinhood shares (NASDAQ: HOOD) worth $400 million.
The court filing last week on January 6th notes that SBF and FTX co-founder Garry Wang would be unable to retain the ownership of Robinhood shares. The document, submitted in the New Jersey bankruptcy court reveals that the DOJ had seized 55,273,469 shares of Robinhood worth almost half a billion dollars.
This was in addition to another $20,746,713.67 seized from ED&F Man Capital Markets, a holding company of SBF and Wang. Besides, the court document reads that the “seized Assets constitute property involved in violations” of crimes involving wire fraud and money laundering.
FTX, now run by its new CEO John Ray III, requested the judge last month to freeze the stock. Sam Bankman-Fried had completely opposed this move stating that he would need part of these funds to pay his legal fees.
In December 2022, a grand jury in the Southern District of New York submitted their eight-count indictment charging SBF with committing crimes of commodities fraud, securities fraud, and campaign finance violations. In the document, the Department of Justice noted:
The Government expects that the evidence will show that Bankman-Fried defrauded FTX customers by misappropriating their funds for his personal use, including to invest for his own account, to make undisclosed venture investments.
The U.S. DoJ Seeks to Seize Further Assets
The U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) has been going after FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried in full force ever since the company filed for bankruptcy.
Last week itself, the DOJ had already hinted that they would proceed with the move of seizing SBF’s assets. Department of Justice counsel Seth Shapiro said “We believe that these assets are not property in the bankruptcy estate”.
Shapiro further added that the Justice Department is in the process of seizing assets from a number of banks such as Silvergate, a lender who was closely associated with FTX. He added that these assets could be later subject to civil or criminal forfeiture proceedings.
With the DoJ seizing this massive sum, what doesn’t SBF have now? After filing for bankruptcy in November, SBF said that he only has $100,000 left in his bank account. Well, the recent seizure leaves him no access to his major assets.
Things are likely to get worse for SBF going ahead as a lot of businesses hat suffered with the FTX collapse have been claiming their money.
