By
Chimamanda U. Martha
April 19th, 2024
A majority part of the seized assets include 55.3 million shares of Robinhood with its current worth of around $526 million.
Last week, prosecutors from the United States seized a staggering $700 million worth of assets owned or belonging to the collapsed crypto exchange FTX and its disgraced founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF).
As per the court filings submitted last Friday, January 20, US federal prosecutor Damian Williams noted that the “government respectfully gives notice that the property is subject to forfeiture”. This covers a long list of assets including shares, fiat, and crypto.
The filing notes that between January 4 and January 19, most of the assets have been seized by the government. Furthermore, the US prosecutors are also laying claims to “all monies and assets” that belong to three different Binance accounts.
The bulk of the value in the seized assets comes from the stack of Robinhood (NASDAQ: HOOD) shares purchased by SBF by allegedly using the stolen FTX customers’ funds. Earlier this month, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) already announced the seizure of $465 million worth of HOOD stock.
The US prosecutors have seized a total of 55.3 million shares of Robinhood with its current worth of around $526 million. These stocks are currently held by Emergent Fidelity Technologies, a shell company created by Bankman-Fried along with his FTX co-founder Gary Wang.
In his December affidavit, SBF wrote that he and Wang formed the new company using the funds loaned by FTX’s sister company Alameda Research. The duo had also used FTX’s customer funds to plug a traditional hole in Alameda’s balance sheet last summer.
Apart from Robinhood, other funds seized include $20.7 million held by Emergent at ED&F Man Capital Markets, Inc. Besides, there’s another $49.9 million at Farmington State Bank, held by FTX Digital Markets. Last week, authorities also seized FTX’s funds held at Silvergate Bank.
FTX’s Funds at Binance and Its US Affiliate
The recent court filing lists three accounts held at rival crypto exchange Binance along with its Binance US affiliate. However, the value of the assets in these accounts isn’t specified.
Last week, the FTX restructuring team led by new company CEO John J. Ray III noted that they have separately recovered more than $5 billion worth of company assets in liquid investments.
As per the latest development, FTX’s new CEO is planning to reboot the exchange once again. The news drew optimism in the market with the native FTT token surging.