Sam Bankman-Fried.
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US Justice Department is pushing for an independent examiner to look into allegations of fraud against FTX.
Authorities were already investigating FTX, and are now seeking a probe of alleged wrongdoing that led to its crash.
But ex-CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has tried to deflect those accusations, stating he “didn’t ever try to commit fraud on anyone.”
US authorities are pushing for an independent examiner to look into fraud allegations against FTX, according to a court filing submitted by the Justice Department on Thursday.
The Justice Department and US regulators were already probing Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto empire before FTX filed for bankruptcy November 11. But DOJ is now calling for a probe of alleged wrongdoing that led to its crash.
“An examiner could – and should – investigate the substantial and serious allegations of fraud, dishonesty, incompetence, misconduct, and mismanagement by the Debtors,” the filing said. “This is especially true where, as here, there are colorable claims that certain of the Debtors misappropriated $10 billion of their customers’ assets,” it later added.
In recent weeks, reports and bankruptcy filings have revealed that FTX sent customer funds to Alameda Research, Bankman-Fried’s crypto-trading arm, as well as $300 million spent on luxury homes in the Bahamas and the disappearance of up to $2 billion in customer funds.
But Bankman-Fried has tried to deflect allegations of fraud, saying he wasn’t aware of what was going on at his companies.
“I didn’t ever try to commit fraud on anyone,” he said at the New York Times DealBook summit on Wednesday. “I was shocked by what happened this month.”
FTX’s collapse has rattled crypto markets and led to the subsequent bankruptcy of BlockFi and a warning from Genesis of a potential bankruptcy, sparking fears that more contagion will continue to grip the industry.