This FTX saga has taken an interesting turn recently. Now Bankman is getting sued by his former company. Hopefully, this means more money to the victims of this mess, and not just fatter lawyers.
Bankman return the money
FTX is trying to get back $700 million from Sam Bankman and his cronies. But I thought he was broke. Thieves and rich people never truly "go broke", they just become slightly poorer. FTX alleges that after a fancy dinner party $700 million was transferred from Alameda Research, aka Bankmans piggybank. The funds were to have been transferred to K5 Global.
After having asked nicely to get the money bad, FTX has now the second most American thing to do. Right after singing the anthem at every opportunity they get. And that is to take them to court. The lawsuit filing names as defendants incubator and investment company K5 Global, Mount Olympus Capital and SGN Albany Capital, as well as affiliated entities and K5 Global co-owners Michael Kives and Bryan Baum. The suit alleged, FTX-affiliated crypto trading firm Alameda Research transferred $700 million to Kives, Baum and K5 Global, but they constructed the deals as coming from shell companies SGN Albany and Mount Olympus Capital. Meaning that they were trying to hide the money. One would assume $700 million would make for a nice rainy-day fund.
Luckily this transaction is described in the suit to be of the “without receiving equivalent value” type. And if you are like me, you can just guess what that means. But more importantly, it is also cited as being "avoidable". And the important part is that according to US bankruptcy law, these types of transactions are reversible. It is to stop people from m selling everything for a penny, then filing for bankruptcy and having no assets left to pay off their debt.
K5 is a Venture Capital firm with over $1 billion in assets under management (apart from any funds from SBF and his affiliates) and has investments in 148 companies. In mid-2022, an affiliate of Sam Bankman-Fried and Alameda bought a third of K5’s general partnership for cash and stock, and ultimately made a $400 million investment in certain funds managed by K5, ... K5 was under the impression — like many others — that SBF was completely legitimate and they were entering into a fair, long-term, and mutually beneficial business relationship. Our belief is that the lawsuit is without merit. -K5 spokesperson
What, I am totally surprised. K5 doesn't want to give the money back? I guess despite knowing what everyone knows now they still want to keep the blood money. And the lawyers see another year in court and a third beach house in LA on their horizon. I truly wonder if there will be anything left for the victims when all this is over. *sigh*
Was this something you saw coming? Do you think, or perhaps know of any more twists and turns to come in the FTX saga? pleas share your thoughts in the comment section below.
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