Star Athlete Shaquille O’Neal Is Latest Defendant in FTX Suit

Basketball superstar Shaquille O’Neal is the latest athlete to be served in a class-action lawsuit against the now defunct crypto exchange FTX, which fell apart in a heap of bankruptcy and fraud last November.

Shaquille O’Neal Is the Latest FTX Defendant

Adam M. Moskowitz – the attorney leading the lawsuit – made the announcement to his clients via the following statement:

I wanted you to know the good news that we just served Shaquille O’Neal outside his house in Atlanta. The good news is his home video cameras recorded our service and we have made it very clear he is not to destroy and/or erase any of these security tapes because they must be preserved for our lawsuit.

Moskowitz claims that he and his firm have been attempting to serve court documents to O’Neal for the past three months, but that the former Lakers and Miami Heat player has been dodging them repeatedly. Moskowitz also had a judge deny his request that the lawsuit papers be delivered electronically given the basketball legend’s (allegedly) repeated attempts to dodge those of the law firm.

O’Neal is now the final defendant to be served. He – along with several other professional athletes such as football quarterback Tom Brady – is being accused of defrauding investors. Moskowitz continued his statement with:

Mr. O’Neal will now be required to appear in federal court and explain to his millions of followers his ‘FTX: I Am All In’ false advertising campaign.

The NBA champion has denied he had anything to do with the fraudulent dealings of the company, claiming he only possessed a sponsorship deal with the exchange. He commented:

A lot of people think I’m involved, but I was just a paid spokesperson for a commercial.

In a recent email, Moskowitz told news sources that FTX played a false liquidity card and ultimately wound up defrauding more people than Bernie Madoff. He mentioned:

FTX were geniuses at public relations and marketing and knew that such a massive Ponzi scheme — larger than the Madoff scheme — could only be successful with the help and promotion of the most famous, respected, and beloved celebrities and influencers in the world.

A Terrible Occurrence for All

FTX is likely to go down as one of the worst embarrassments in the history of crypto. What was once one of the world’s top five digital currency exchanges soon became a scam-ridden haven for illicit behavior that ultimately cost the crypto arena more than $200 billion.

It is alleged that Sam Bankman-Fried – the man behind the digital currency trading platform – utilized customer funds to invest in luxury Bahamian real estate. It has also been reported that he used these same monies to pay off loans taken out by his other company Alameda Research, thus combining both business and customer assets (an illegal action).

Tags: FTX, lawsuit, Shaquille O’Neal