Topline
The FBI searched a home belonging to FTX executive Ryan Salame on Thursday, the New York Times and Bloomberg reported, amid a sweeping investigation that has ensnared FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried and three other top executives at the failed crypto exchange.
Four top FTX executives have faced criminal charges since the firm’s rapid collapse last year, … [+]
Key Facts
The search took place Thursday morning at Salame’s house in the D.C. suburb of Potomac, according to the Times, which cited two unnamed sources.
It’s unclear why authorities obtained a search warrant for Salame’s home.
Salame has not been charged with a crime or formally accused of criminality, but Bankman-Fried is awaiting trial for a litany of criminal counts, and three executives at FTX and its sister trading firm Alameda Research have pleaded guilty to charges.
Forbes has reached out to the FBI’s Baltimore division, Salame and his attorney for comment.
Key Background
Salame served as the CEO of FTX Global Markets, the Bahamas-based affiliate of what was once the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency exchange. The exchange and Alameda Research collapsed in November amid questions about the two firms’ unusual financial practices, including allegations FTX had improperly lent customer funds to Alameda. A month after the crash, Bankman-Fried was arrested for securities fraud, wire fraud, money laundering and other federal charges—he has pleaded not guilty, and spent the weeks following FTX’s collapse insisting the debacle was caused by sloppiness rather than fraud. Meanwhile, Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison and FTX co-founders Gary Wang and Nishad Singh have pleaded guilty to fraud charges and agreed to cooperate with federal prosecutors.
Surprising Fact
Last year, the Times reported Salame was seen as a Bankman-Fried loyalist, though he wasn’t one of the FTX founder’s closest confidantes. But during a phone call with Bahamian regulators just days before FTX declared bankruptcy, Salame revealed that “clients’ assets which may have been held with FTX Digital were transferred to Alameda Research … to cover financial losses,” a securities official in the Bahamas wrote in a court filing last year.
This is a developing story; it will be updated.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/joewalsh/2023/04/27/ftx-leader-ryan-salames-home-searched-by-fbi/