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- Sam Bankman-Fried is reported to have filed a settlement agreement to assist FTX customers go after celebrity promoters.
- Some of these promoters have already contributed to a common fund of $1.4 million as required in their settlement agreement.
Crypto News Flash recently reported that the founder of the collapsed FTX exchange and Alameda Research, Samuel Bankman-Fried (SBF), was sentenced to 25 years in prison, three years of supervised release clause, and ordered to pay $11 billion in forfeiture for his orchestration of multiple fraud schemes.
This was after the court had found him guilty of misappropriating billions of dollars of customers’ funds, defrauding investors in FTX of over $1.7 billion, and defrauding lenders to Alameda of over $1.3 billion. In all, SBF was found guilty of two counts of wire fraud, two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit commodities fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
With all of these coming to an end, investors have shifted focus to celebrities, bankers, lawyers, accountants, and firms who endorsed the exchange in “flashy advertisements” without any form of disclosure. In response to this, SBF has filed a settlement agreement with a group of customers to help them go after these celebrity promoters as formerly reported by CNF.
In exchange for his cooperation, these customers would drop their class action lawsuit against him. Once approved by the Judge, SBF would be required to provide testimonies and documents in his possession to assist their litigation efforts.
Also, he has agreed to provide financial information and documents that contain his remaining personal assets and the investment of his firm in Anthropic.
Celebrities Reaching Agreement with FTX Customers
A similar settlement agreement is reported to have been made between accomplices Caroline Ellison, Nishad Singh, and Gary Wang and the plaintiffs’ attorney. Also, celebrity promoters including financial YouTubers Andrei Jikh, Graham Stephan, Jaspreet Singh, Tom Nash, Brian Jung, and Jeremy Lefebvre have contributed to a common fund of $1.4 million to fund the lawsuit as part of their settlement agreement.
In 2023, Trevor Lawrence, Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback, settled with the plaintiffs after receiving $500,000 to endorse FTX subsidiary Blockfolio. However, other top athletes Tom Brady, Steph Curry, Shaquille O’Neill, Naomi Osaka, and Shohei Otani, as well as supermodel Gisele Bundchen are reportedly fighting the lawsuit.
Apart from the involvement of these celebrities, SBF reportedly signed a $130 million deal to put the name of FTX and logo on the Miami-Dade County sports arena.
FBI Director Christopher Wray has already shown a willingness to investigate such cases in a comment made after SBF sentencing.
The FBI will aggressively investigate individuals, like Samuel Bankman-Fried, who engage in fraudulent schemes at the expense of the American public and our financial systems. We are proud of the successful collaboration that ended this massive mismanagement and misappropriation of billions of dollars. Today’s sentencing should serve as a warning to others looking to use fraudulent means for personal gain — there are consequences for your actions.
According to U.S. Attorney Damian Williams, SBF showed disregard for customers’ expectations and disrespect for the rule of law. To Williams, “the scale of his crime is measured not just by the amount of money that was stolen, but by the extraordinary harm caused to victims who in some cases had their life savings wiped out overnight.”
