- Government seeks to connect with the victims of the FTX collapse.
- Sam Bankman-Fried is charged with eight separate indictments.
The US government took an initiative to reach out to the victims of the FTX fallout. FTX’s founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried is the main accused in the case. As per reports, a website was launched by the government to enable victims to contact the US Department of Justice.
The initiative came in the wake of a string of court proceedings in which SBF appeared. A requirement of prosecutors to get in touch with the potential victims of crime was felt. It’s necessary to let people know about their rights—to obtain restitution, to be heard in court and protection from defendants.
The Justice Department website noted, “If you believe that you may have been a victim of fraud by Samuel Bankman-Fried, a/k/a ‘SBF,’ please contact the victim/witness coordinator at the United States Attorney’s Office … for assistance in verifying whether you are a victim in this case.”
An indictment was said to be unsealed by the DOJ consisting of charges against Sam Bankman-Fried alleging that he defrauded multiple parties including customers and investors of FTX.com and lenders of the associated trading firm Alameda Research.
The crypto exchange founder is charged with eight separate charges. These charges include “wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and conspiracy to defraud the United States and violate the campaign finance laws,” as per US authorities.
The federal prosecutors filed a request for a permission in the Manhattan court on Friday before United States District Judge Lewis A. Kalpan, to whom Bankman Fried’s case has been assigned. The filing sought permission to use a website in order to inform the victimes. The prosecutors explained in the filing that the number of people affected by the FTX collapse could go up to a million, it’s not possible and is ‘impracticable’ to reach everyone and contact them individually.
In November, FTX filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Code along with its sister trading firm Alameda Research. Then CEO Bankman Fried stepped down from his position. In December, SBF was arrested in the Bahamas and later extradited to the US. Currently he is on bail over a $250 million bond along with several other obligations including travel restrictions.
Source: https://www.thecoinrepublic.com/2023/01/09/doj-sets-up-communication-channel-for-ftx-collapse-victims/