FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried transferred $2.2 billion to his personal account from parts of his crypto empire, new bosses say

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FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried transferred $2.2 billion to his personal account from parts of his crypto empire, new bosses say
Sam Bankman-Fried.AP Photo/Seth Wenig
  • FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried and 5 of his inner circle transferred over $3.2 billion to personal accounts, per a filing.
  • The funds came mainly from sister hedge fund Alameda, FTX's new bosses said Wednesday.
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FTX cofounder Sam Bankman-Fried and five people in his inner circle took more than $3.2 billion from hedge fund Alameda Research and other parts of his crypto empire, according to its new bosses.

Former CEO Bankman-Fried and the FTX employees transferred the money to their personal accounts under the label "payments and loans", FTX's new management said in Wednesday filings to bankruptcy court.

Most of the funds came from Alameda, FTX's sister trading arm, and were transferred before the crypto exchange collapsed in November, they said.

Bankman-Fried picked up about $2.2 billion, while ex-engineer Nishad Singh, FTX cofounder Gary Wang and ex-Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison received $587 million, $246 million and $6 million, respectively, the filings said.

Ryan Salame, the former Co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets, and Sam Trabucco, former co-head of Alameda, accounted for $87 million and $25 million, respectively.

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The fresh revelations don't include the more than $240 million blown on luxury property in the Bahamas, political and charitable donations made directly by the FTX debtors, and substantial transfers to non-debtor subsidiaries in the Bahamas and other jurisdictions.

Bankman-Fried is facing eight criminal changes, including money laundering and wire fraud, linked to the downfall of his once-$30 billion crypto empire. The charges carry penalties that could amount to life in prison for the 31-year-old, who is under house arrest at his parents' home in California.

US prosecutors allege Bankman-Fried channeled money to Alameda, a crypto hedge fund he also controlled. They also allege that modified software code was used to would let Alameda carry a negative balance and still borrow unlimited funds from the FTX exchange.

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