• FTX Lawyers Seek $323.5M Recovery, Alleging Fraud in FTX Europe Acquisition: Lawyers representing FTX aim to recover $323.5 million from FTX Europe’s leadership, claiming fraudulent intent in the DAAG acquisition.
• Legal Battle Unfolds as FTX Seeks to Halt Payments to FTX Europe Leadership: FTX faces legal challenges as lawyers seek to stop payments to FTX Europe’s leaders, citing FTX Europe’s lack of value as an asset.

In a recent court filing on July 12, lawyers representing cryptocurrency exchange FTX requested a U.S. bankruptcy court in Delaware to award them over $323.5 million in recovery from FTX Europe’s leadership. The complaint, filed under the claim of avoidance and recovery of transfers, alleges that FTX’s acquisition of DAAG, a Swiss company, was done to hinder or defraud creditors.

According to the plaintiffs, FTX executives, aiming to gain access to European regulators and establish a presence in the region, acquired DAAG through Alameda Research for $376 million. Nevertheless, the Swiss company possessed minimal business operations and lacked any intellectual property besides a business plan.

Regardless, DAAG played a role in helping FTX obtain an operating license in Cyprus by purchasing a local company for 2 million euros ($2.2 million). Additionally, FTX continued to pay DAAG, now known as FTX Europe, millions of dollars for IT and consulting services.

The plaintiffs seek to recover a significant portion of the funds from the defendants, including FTX Europe’s co-founders and former top executives. The complaint argues that each transfer made during the DAAG deal was done to hinder, delay, or defraud present or future creditors. If successful, the plaintiffs may recover the total amount of these transfers, along with interest, costs, and fees, for the benefit of the FTX bankruptcy estate.

The sum demanded by the plaintiffs is no less than $323,500,000, and they also reserve the right to claim any additional avoidable transfers that may be uncovered during their investigation.

Legal Battle Unveils Motives Behind FTX’s Acquisition

Lawyers representing FTX Trading Ltd. and Maclaurin Investments Ltd., both owned by Alameda Research, have requested the court to order the return of funds transferred to Patrick Gruhn, Robin Matzke, Brandon Williams, and Lorem Ipsum UG, the leaders of FTX Europe.

The legal complaint alleges that:

FTX Insiders pursued the DAAG acquisition because they believed DAAG’s founders could provide access to European regulators that would allow FTX to obtain the necessary licenses for activities in the European Economic Area, and because they wanted to benefit Williams and Matzke, who had preexisting relationships with Bankman-Fried.

Furthermore, the lawyers have asked the court to halt any remaining payments to FTX Europe’s leadership. The original deal amounted to over $376 million, with $52.5 million still outstanding.

The lawyers contend that FTX Europe lacks value as an asset and cannot be sold. In April, a Swiss court granted FTX permission to explore the sale of FTX Europe. In March, FTX Europe initiated the process of permitting customers to withdraw their funds.

The FTT token, which belongs to the FTX exchange, is presently being traded at $1.60, resulting in a 7% increase for holders in the past week. Successful recovery of FTX user funds can potentially drive the token’s price upwards in the long run.

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