Federal Prosecutors Seize Sam Bankman-Fried Assets Worth $700m, Including Silvergate Bank Accounts
Federal authorities have confiscated approximately $700 million worth of assets belonging to the disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, including three accounts at Silvergate Bank that held U.S. dollars.
According to a court filing from Friday, Federal prosecutors have seized around $525 million worth of Robinhood stock, $94.5 million in cash from one account at Silvergate Bank, more than $7 million from other Silvergate accounts, nearly $50 million from an account at Moonstone Bank, and assets in three Binance accounts.
As reported, the US Department of Justice revealed the seizure of 56 million shares of Robinhood earlier this month. The shares are owned by Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX co-founder Gary Wang through a holding company called Emergent Fidelity Technologies and were purchased with a loan from his own hedge fund, Alameda Research.
The shares have been the subject of disputes among several parties, with a total of four entities laying claim to the shares. Bankrupt crypto lender BlockFi, an FTX creditor, FTX’s new management, which is trying to claw back funds for investors and customers of the bankrupt platform, as well as the US government wanted to keep a grasp of the shares.
Sam Bankman-Fried himself also had claims on the shares. In a filing, SBF’s lawyers argued that the shares are owned by a holding that is not an FTX-related entity. They also said the disgraced crypto boss needed the money to fund his legal expenses.
Another $101.5 million of the seized assets were held in Silvergate Bank accounts in the name of FTX Digital Markets, a Bahamian subsidiary. Those assets were assumed by the government “on or about” January 11, the crypto bank said earlier this month,
Silvergate has also disclosed that it suffered a bank run following the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, which forced the company to sell assets at a significant loss in order to honor $8.1 billion worth of customer withdrawals. The crypto bank incurred a $718 million loss on the sale.
Furthermore, the DOJ has seized nearly $50 million from an FTX Digital Markets account at Moonstone Bank, a digital bank with ties to FTX management. Just yesterday, the bank announced it is exiting the crypto space and will be refocusing on the “community bank” role citing the recent developments in the industry.
Finally, the DOJ has seized an undisclosed amount of assets held in one Binance account and two Binance.US account numbers.
US Prosecutors have charged SBF with eight criminal charges including wire fraud and conspiracy by misusing customer funds. The crypto boss has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
