According to new court documents, FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) will be subject to the forfeiture of some $700 million in assets if convicted of fraud.
In a court document filed on January 20, US Attorney Damian Williams noted that the “government respectfully advises that the property subject to forfeiture” encompasses a long list of assets in fiat, stocks, and cryptocurrencies.
The files indicate that most of the assets were seized by the government between January 4 and 19, while it is also trying to claim “all money and assets” belonging to three separate Binance accounts.
Taking a look at the list of seized assets, the largest allocations include 55,273,469 Robinhood (HOOD) shares worth approximately $525.5 million at the time of writing, $94.5 million at Silvergate Bank, $49.9 million at Farmington State Bank and $20.7 million in ED&F Man Capital Markets, Inc.
The government has filed a forfeiture order in this case, as it alleges that these assets have been obtained illegally through the use of customer deposits.
Although some members of SBF’s inner circle, such as Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang, have confessed and cooperated with prosecution for their role in the bankruptcy of FTX, the businessman himself has pleaded not guilty to all eight criminal charges against him.
FTX lured African investors with an inflation hedge
In other FTX-related news, a Jan. 18 report from the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) highlighted the poorly aged marketing the exchange launched in Africa not long before it went bankrupt in November.
The campaign in question touted USD-pegged stablecoins as safer investments than local currencies when it comes to inflation, while also touting the ability to earn 8% per year through gambling rewards programs.
While those inflationary sentiments may be true across the board, as African currencies like the Nigerian naira and Ghanaian cedi have tumbled against the dollar, any marketing-swayed African FTX clients lost their funds when the company went bankrupt.
Pius Okedinachi, FTX’s former head of education for Africa, told the WSJ that around this time, the exchange was overseeing about $500 million in monthly trading volume in Africa, most of it coming from Nigeria.
Eight days before FTX filed for bankruptcy, SBF also promoted FTX’s services in West Africa, announcing in a tweet on Nov. 3 that the exchange had started accepting deposits in West African CFA francs.
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