The bankrupt crypto exchange FTX was among the three leading crypto exchanges globally, which filed for bankruptcy on November 11, 2022. The exchange was founded and led by 30-year-old crypto enthusiast Sam Bankman Fried.
Recently CNBC reported that FTX former Chief Executive Officer Sam Bankman is blamed for tempering the witness using Signal, an encrypted messaging application, a day after bankruptcy experts disclosed the total recovery amount of $ 5 billion in FTX assets.
According to the letter filed in Manhattan federal court on January 27, 2023, Federal prosecutors are attempting to block FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried from using encrypted messaging software that could constitute “witness tampering.”
Prosecutors said that Bankman-Fried reached out to “the current General Counsel of FTX US who may be a witness at trial.” Although Ryne Miller’s name wasn’t disclosed in the government filing, he serves as the current General Counsel at FTX US.
It is claimed that Bankman-Fried wrote to Miller that “I would really love to reconnect and see if there’s a way for us to have a constructive relationship, use each other as resources when possible, or at least vet things with each other.”
The filing also states that Bankman Fried is also in touch with several other former and current FTX employees. Federal prosecutors asserted that Bankman-Fried’s request suggests an attempt to influence the witness testimony and that Bankman-Fried’s effort to improve his relationship with Miller “may itself constitute witness tampering.”
Neither Miller nor Bankman Fried’s representatives responded to the above allegations.
Federal prosecutors claim that FTX’s former CEO directed FTX and Alameda using slack and Signal and ordered his employees to change their communication settings and opt for “auto delete after 30 days or less.”
On January 25, 2023, FTX’s lawyers presented the long-anticipated inventory of FTX’s debt in the United States Bankruptcy Court in Delaware. That only has institutions and companies’ names, not individual creditors.
On January 6, 2023, FTX and its affiliated debtors announced their agreement on terms for cooperation in the chapter 11 cases of the FTX Debtors in Delaware and the provisional liquidation of FTX DM in The Bahamas.
But according to previous court filings, FTX owes $3.1 Billion to its 50 biggest unsecured creditors, while two customers owed over $200 Million individually.
Brett Harrison, a former FTX US employee, has raised $5 million for his new crypto startup ‘Architect,’ which aims to develop trading infrastructure for crypto investors.
The crypto startup has raised funds in a pre-product financing round from leading investors such as Coinbase Ventures, Circle Ventures, SV Angel, SALT Funds, P2P, Three King venture capital and Motivate Venture Capital. Anthony Scaramucci, the founder of Skybridge Capital and Shari Glazer are among the company’s angel investors.
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Nancy J. Allen is a crypto enthusiast and believes that cryptocurrencies inspire people to be their own banks and step aside from traditional monetary exchange systems. She is also intrigued by blockchain technology and its functioning.
Source: https://www.thecoinrepublic.com/2023/01/29/sam-bankman-fried-is-tempering-witness-says-doj/