Is FTX Really Out Of Money? Sam Says No Way!

Sam Bankman Fried denies any insolvency for FTX

Sam awaiting trial

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and former CEO of FTX, is currently awaiting trial for wire fraud and other criminal charges. Despite repeated claims from the FTX bankruptcy restructuring team that both the international and U.S. exchanges are missing millions worth of customer funds, Bankman-Fried says they’re wrong. FTX, led by restructuring CEO John Ray, who oversaw Enron’s bankruptcy, made a presentation to the company’s committee of unsecured creditors. After what Ray called a “Herculean investigative effort,” the team has located only $181 million worth of FTX US funds. It says that half of those assets were drained from wallets in “unauthorized transfers” following FTX filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on November 11.

Bankman Fried Debates Claims

Bankman-Fried, who is currently under house arrest, has hired a legal team to represent his interests in the Delaware FTX bankruptcy case. However, he has not stopped from publicly denying claims made by the restructuring team and publishing screenshots of spreadsheets that he says represent the state his crypto empire was in when he stepped down just after filing for bankruptcy. “These claims by S&C are wrong, and contradicted by data later on in the same document,” Bankman-Fried wrote in a Substack newsletter, referring to Sullivan & Cromwell, the legal team that created the presentation. “FTX US was and is solvent, likely with hundreds of millions of dollars in excess of customer balances.”

Bankman-Fried went on to explain how he arrived at his conclusion that FTX US isn’t missing any customer funds. However, it’s important to note that he’s using numbers that were current when he stepped down as CEO on November 11 and Ray has been distancing FTX from its founder and cutting off his access to company records.

Charges against Sam

Bankman-Fried was arrested in November 2021 for wire fraud and other criminal charges in connection to the collapse of FTX. He was charged with eight financial crimes, including money laundering, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. The charges came after the bankruptcy of FTX, which was one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world at the time.

The charges against Bankman-Fried allege that he and his associates engaged in a scheme to defraud customers of FTX by misrepresenting the solvency and financial condition of the company. The indictment also alleges that Bankman-Fried and his associates transferred millions of dollars worth of customer funds to other entities that they controlled, in order to conceal the true financial condition of the company.

Despite the charges against him, Bankman-Fried has continued to insist that FTX US is fully solvent and that the restructuring team’s own documents prove it. He argues that the team’s claims are wrong and that the company has hundreds of millions of dollars in excess of customer balances. The outcome of the case against Bankman-Fried and the true financial condition of FTX US remains to be seen and will likely be determined in court.

A Deep Betrayal

The legal troubles of Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and former CEO of FTX, have taken a turn for the worse as it has recently been reported that his former girlfriend Caroline Ellison and friend Gary Wang have both taken plea deals for their role in the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange.

Ellison and Wang, who had both held high-ranking positions within FTX, had been accused of embezzling millions of dollars from the company. According to court documents, the two had been working together to transfer funds from the company to their own personal accounts, under the guise of legitimate business expenses.

The betrayal has hit Bankman-Fried hard, as he had considered both Ellison and Wang to be among his closest confidants. He had trusted them with sensitive information about the inner workings of the company, and it is believed that they used this knowledge to carry out their scheme.

However, in a shocking turn of events, Ellison and Wang have both taken plea deals with the prosecution, and have agreed to testify against Bankman-Fried in his upcoming trial. This means that they have essentially “thrown him under the bus” in order to receive leniency in their own cases.

The move has caused a significant setback for Bankman-Fried’s legal defense, as the prosecution now has key witnesses who can provide insight into the inner workings of FTX and the alleged criminal activity that took place. This has led to speculation that Bankman-Fried may face harsher penalties if found guilty.

The betrayal by Ellison and Wang has added another layer of complexity to the already troubled legal situation surrounding FTX and Bankman-Fried. The outcome of the case against him, as well as the true financial condition of the company, remains to be seen and will likely be determined in court. It is not clear yet if Sam Bankman Fried was aware of these activities or not.

Future for Sam

The future for Sam seems quite bleak at the moment with many comparing Bankman-Fried to the “monster of wall street” Bernie Madoff. The road to his freedom is fraught with many obstacles and there may not be a way for him to be able to see freedom again after this . There is much to learn and as each day passes the saga that is FTX becomes more and more interesting.

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