FTX Task Force set up to track down lost customer assets
Total outstanding amounts against the crypto exchange FTX are estimated at $50 billion.
Total outstanding amounts against the crypto exchange FTX are estimated at $50 billion.
In the criminal case against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York is setting up a task force to track down stolen funds. CNBC reports, citing a press release from the agency. "The Southern District of New York is working around the clock to respond to the FTX collapse," U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in his statement. The statement adds that everyone must cooperate.
The task force includes several prosecutors with specialties in securities and commodities fraud, corruption, money laundering, and cross-border crime. The goal is to use their "cyber capabilities" to seize funds.
Toward the end of last year, a total of $4.5 billion had surfaced. In court, FTX disclosed the discovery of one billion US dollars. Shortly after, the Bahamian securities regulator confirmed another $3.5 billion. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) cites a total of $8 billion that customers would have lost during FTX's collapse. According to other estimates, the former "model exchange" could have as much as $50 billion in outstanding amounts against it.
FTX founder pleads not guilty
After FTX filed for bankruptcy in November 2022 in Delaware, the SDNY opened an investigation into the crypto exchange. Shortly after, the state attorney general filed criminal charges against founders Sam Bankman-Fried and Gary Wang, and also against Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of hedge fund Alameda Research. The latter pleaded guilty.
Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty during his hearing on Tuesday. In addition to fraud, the prosecutor also accuses the 30-year-old American of violating campaign finance laws. If convicted, the FTX founder could face as much as up to 115 years in prison.
