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Ex-FTX CEO Bankman-Fried arrested in Bahamas as U.S. files charges

edited December 2022 in Other Investing
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/ex-ftx-ceo-bankman-fried-arrested-in-bahamas-as-u-s-files-charges-1.1858367

Prob got enough evidence?
May always be good to live honest life and work hard for your monies
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Comments

  • Mom and Dad B-F may also be under investigation.
  • edited December 2022
    At the risk of gloating, I'll admit the market lessons learned and observations made as a futures trader during the Great Financial Crisis in 2006-08 served me *very* well and thankfully kept me safe during my brief but profitable forray into cryptocurrency.

    Things like due diligence, pondering counterparty risk, agility, and critically analyzing company's priorities/actions/visibility during irrationally bullish markets can *really* save your arse before things turn bad/ugly/catastrophic.

    edit: SBF denied bail, deemed a flight risk. Extradition hearing set for February.
  • Glad that you did well and had the sense to get out while the getting was good.
  • edited December 2022
    I'm surprised he didn't flee to a non treaty country.
  • The story is messy as it unfolds. His parents are totally innocent and they are being investigated.
  • Sam Bankman-Fried made nearly $40M in political contributions for the 2022 election cycle.
    So, will recipients return what remains of these tainted funds?
    Link
  • edited December 2022
    I'm glad I couldn't figure out how bitcoin or any other form of crypto was valued, other than it was worth what anyone says it was at any point in time. Thus I opted to take the path going around that cesspool.
  • edited December 2022
    @Sven, many investors were impressed that SBF's parents were lawyers (father in security compliance law) at a prestigious university - CNBC Mr Wonderful Kevin O publicly mentioned that (KO became a PR face for FTX). SBF was good in dropping names, exploiting connections and drawing celebrities in. Then, multimillion Bahama properties were purchased in the names of SBF parents that SBF said later he didn't know how that happened. Anyone involved in real estate transactions and closings is aware that this doesn't just happen accidentally. Right now the parents are involved in arranging for SBF's defense. They may be innocent but were certainly mixed up in this shady mess.

  • FTX makes MF Global look like a minor business hiccup....

    This was a money quote from yesterday's House hearing, c/o YahooNews:

    [FTX CEP] Ray explained that FTX was "unusual" in that it had "no record keeping whatsoever." He said that employees would exchange invoices and expenses on Slack, the ubiquitous workplace chatroom.

    "They use QuickBooks," he added, referring to the accounting software.

    "QuickBooks?" Congresswoman Wagner asked for clarification.

    "QuickBooks, very nice tool, not for a multibillion dollar company," Ray confirmed.




  • I also read that QuickBooks CANNOT do mark-to-market accounting and isn't appropriate for keeping records for multi-billion dollar exchanges (cryptos or regular). I am personally not familiar with QuickBooks.
  • edited December 2022
    @yogibb,

    QuickBooks is a business software owned by Intuit, a public traded company. Many small business used QuickBooks whereas large corporations used others can handle large volume of data. Exchanges certainly require more robust software for the sheer volume of data.

    It is unreal to read about SBF.
    https://vox.com/the-goods/23458837/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-sbf-downfall-explained

  • The whole thing stinks miles to Sunday...how come none of his colleagues have been arrested yet? Who is Ellison, Wang, Singh, etc...are we supposed to beleive they aren't complicit?

    Why is there not more noise about him influencing mid term elections with his millions stolen money donationt to the dems?

    His Mother...the well connected Democrat lefty fund raiser..."Mind the Gap"...funneling monies to the lefties..his Dad, Bankman, a leading expert on state and federal tax shelters...Aunt working for the Socialist Schwab at WEF and his MMT techno babble gobbly gook...brother a vaccine/pandemic "fanboy" ... F them with a Capital F all of them, throw them in jail! As mentioned prior...Bermuda homes...oh oh our boy is in trouble better try to put them in someone else's name etc.

    You couldn't make this shit up even if you were a Hollywood screenwriter.

    The reason he didn't skate and skip out to another country is he is thinking he bought protection and will get away with it.

    Maxine Waters, big fan of his...go figure...how the heck is she House Chair Finance Committe...you got to be shitting me, I wouldn't trust her ability to run a Jack in the Box franchise...wasn't Gensler before this happened championing to assist FTX in the regulatory arena?

    What a bunch of crack pots, weirdos...who would put monies with ths clown just based on his appearance and how he talks.

    Yeesh.
  • edited December 2022
    @Baseball_Fan- Speaking personally, I really do not appreciate your continuous introduction of contentious political perspective into otherwise financial matters.

    MFO has an Off-Topic section for the type of commentary which you seem to prefer. It would be appreciated if you could make at least a minimal attempt to respect the general guidelines as requested by David Snowball:

    "Mostly there are Fund Discussions and Off-Topic Discussions, which range from market calls to book recommendations. If you want to read only the fund-relevant stuff, click on the category called Fund Discussions"

    As is common with those who are in agreement with your political perspective, you act as if the rules were made for everyone but yourselves. Your ex-president is certainly a prime example.

  • I keep wondering about the guy that fixed our dryer last March. Told me all about how he was buying lots of crypto on the dip.

    I hope he at least enjoyed his vacation in New Zealand.
  • Nah old Joe. Do respect your comments but disagree. I've read many many left comments on the financial boards here I feel you are calling me out because of my views are not in alignment with a far left political perspective.

    Respectfully submitted

    Baseball fan
  • @Baseball_Fan- There is a major difference between responding to politcal attacks, and initiating same. I am in one corner, you are without a doubt in the other.

    Russia and Ukraine: same thing, and you and Putin aren't fooling anybody.

  • Let us not resume profanity laced, political opinions please. It is one thing to link to a legitimate report that SBF donated large sums to Democrats ( he claims he gave equal amounts to the GOP), as it does indicate how politics work, but this is certainly is no different than XOM pouring huge sums into GOP coffers to fight climate change.
  • "Why is there not more noise about him influencing mid term elections with his millions stolen money donationt to the dems?" (sic)

    Not quite as one-sided as Baseball_Fan would have us believe.
    This, from The Street
    , on MSN:
    He consequently contributed millions of dollars to elected Democrats. The former trader emerged as major donor to Democratic candidates, leading up to the Nov. 8 midterm elections.

    His political action committee gave over $23 million to the Democratic Party while the 30-year old founder of FTX gave $13 million of his own money to both the Democrats and Republicans, according to filings with the Federal Election Commission.

    But executives of FTX and its American subsidiary, FTX US, were making donations to Republicans.

    On Oct. 27, 12 days before the midterm elections, FTX US donated $1 million to the Senate Leadership Fund Super-PAC, according to a filing with the FEC.

    The Super-PAC, which is lined up with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), said it "has one goal: to build a Republican Senate majority that will defend America from Chuck Schumer and Senate Democrats’ destructive far-left agenda."

    The donation was made by West Realm Shires Services, which is the trading name of FTX US.

    FTX US also gave $750,000 to the Congressional Leadership Fund and $150,000 to the American Patriots PAC. The two PACs backed House Republican candidates.

    It also donated $100,000 to the Alabama Conservatives Fund.

    Ryan Salame, the co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets, one of FTX's affiliates, donated nearly $24 million to the Republican Party, the records show.

    These donations were made amid growing calls for strict regulation of the crypto industry.

  • Really discouraging.
  • criminal pig. let's see, now..... where did I put my guillotine?
  • Any predictions what happens going forward? Knock on effects spill over into stock market? Other Bitcoin firms also crooked and or go under? Other ftx colleagues arrested? Other black swan disclosures related to bankman fried or parents?

    Who knew what, where's the money etc etc

  • edited December 2022
    Your guess as good as mine
    Base in chart appears BTCUSD consolidate w short term bottom near 14k - 16k in May then again october...

    Long term nobody knows depend if Feds really pivot and market more enthused about Cryptos in general/ more free monies pumped into system once more folks have lessen margin loans.. So many factors go against btcusd - extremely speculative , retail investors no monies (many bankrupted) , so many better vehicles out there, lots pp scare and ran away, no trust in system, no bank supports, many crooks trying to steal your monies and many crypto wallets have no fdic/central banks nor govt backing up...

    Lots folk btcusd maybe 8k by spring 2023

    I am adding but very little.. My advisor recommended before Every 100 dollars in stocks maybe 1 2 $ in cryptos (I do 50 cents)

    Who know btcusd could be 60k by end 2024...aunty wood says one mill by 2030
  • i dunno why anyone would even entertain the idea of crypto. it's gambling. not investing.
  • edited December 2022
    I've long thought that the line between investing and gambling was pretty faint much of the time ("I'll put 5k on 'growth'... no, wait... make that 'value' "), but the whole Crypto thing seems to me to be unmistakably Vegas, and also seems to be influenced by "the mob" as well.
  • Watch Silvergate/SI, one of the crypto banks. Its deposits are covered by the FDIC. Crypto loans are small but significant part of its business. It also has SEN-network that provides an interface or link between crypto accounts and regular bank accounts.

    The FDIC may become 2-edged sword. One could think that provides some safety.

    But if you are following the FTX (SBF) and Alameda (Caroline E) intrigue, you know that FTX didn't have a bank account but SI had one. So, being connected entities, FTX decided to just use the SI bank account for FTX wires. The FTX wire instructions were to sent money to Alameda account # with text added that it was for FTX*. That is how FTX customer money got commingled with Alameda money, and of course, FTX wasn't keeping records, nor was Alameda providing any.

    Was SI aware of this arrangement, or agreed/accepted it? It violates several banking rules - KYC, anti-money laundering, providing banking services to a company not otherwise eligible to open bank account directly, etc. What are the Feds/FDIC going to do about this? Sanction or penalize SI? Anyway, this is why every time there is a new development in the FTX-Alameda (SBF-Caroline) story, the SI stock tanks.

    *Those who use wires know that only the account# matters, not the text. So, for example, if you make a mistake in entering the account# but mention correct name, then the wire will be credited to the WRONG account#, NOT the correct name. That is one reason to be very careful with wires.
  • Bankman-Fried funneled an estimated $262,200 to Republicans throughout the 2021-2022 election cycle, according to Federal Election Commission records. But those contributions to Republicans paled in comparison to the nearly $40 million he contributed to Democratic campaigns.
  • Time out for you, @Baseball_Fan.
  • edited December 2022
    @B_F - were you whining and crying and wetting your pants when the Koch Bro's et.al. were delivering truck loads of funds to republicans and republican causes which turned out to be criminal in nature? Have you called for the heads of all those who supported the 'big lie'? Get a grip. Remember innocent until proven guilty? This story is far from started or ended.
  • If anyone is really interested here is the most complete list of SBF contributions that I know of. Lots of GOP guys and girls including $ 3,500,000 to Mitch.

    Porkers really lined up at the trough

    While we all know that "money talks" it is always instructive to see how politicians say one thing and take money from another.

    It is unclear what SBF thought he was getting from all this, and what he wanted in terms of Crypto regulations.

    https://popular.info/

    Judd at Popular information is an incredibly insightful investigative reporter a who has daily emails about where dark money is going, and who is behind various trends in politics etc.


    24 politicians and one PAC pledge to donate or return money from FTX execs

    1. Representative Josh Harder (D-CA) received $2,900 from Bankman-Fried. A spokesperson for Harder told Popular Information that he plans to donate the funds to the Stockton Food Bank. 

    2. Senator Tina Smith (D-MN) received $5,800 from Bankman-Fried. Her campaign said she “has already donated the campaign contributions from Mr. Bankman-Fried to Planned Parenthood North Central States.”

    3. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) received $5,800 from Bankman-Fried and $2,900 from Salame. Her campaign said that both donations were given to “Storyknife Writers Retreat in Homer, Alaska.” 

    4. Senator Joe Manchin (D-WV) received $5,800 from Bankman-Fried. Sam Runyon, a spokesperson for Manchin, told Popular Information that Manchin donated the money to Mountaineer Food Bank in West Virginia, and that he “hopes this donation can provide some relief to those who need it most.” 

    5. Senator John Boozman (R-AR) received $5,800 from Bankman-Fried. His campaign said he has “donated those funds to charity.”

    6. Senator-elect Peter Welch (D-VT) received $2,900 from Bankman-Fried. In a statement to Popular Information Welch said, “On November 16th, after serious public allegations against Sam Bankman-Fried, I donated the $2,900 contribution my campaign received from Mr. Bankman-Fried to the Warmth Support Program to help Vermonters keep their homes warm this winter.”

    7. Representative-elect Morgan McGarvey (D-KY) received $2,900 from Bankman-Fried. McGarvey’s campaign told Popular Information, “We have donated that amount of money to Family Scholar House, a nonprofit in Louisville that provides a range of services, including financial education for disadvantaged single parents and their children in Louisville.”

    8. Representative-elect Valerie Foushee (D-NC) received $2,900 from Bankman-Fried. Foushee told Popular Information in a statement, “The situation with FTX is both distressing and unsettling. When I accepted a $2,900 donation from Mr. Bankman-Fried, I was unaware of his illegitimate business dealings. In light of recent developments, I cannot, in good conscience, retain his donation to my campaign, and have since donated these funds to a nonprofit in Chapel Hill, EMPOWERment Inc., whose mission is to serve the community through their steadfast work to provide affordable housing and foster economic development. I sincerely hope that anyone who may have been wronged in this situation will be made right." 

    9. Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) received $5,800 from Bankman-Fried. He pledged to donate the amount to “an appropriate cause.” 

    10. Representative Ritchie Torres (D-NY) received $2,900 from Bankman-Fried. Torres donated the amount to “a local charity to assist with holiday food distributions to families in need.” 

    11. Representative Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) received $5,800 from Bankman-Fried. Jeffries donated the amount to the American Diabetes Association.

    12. Representative Josh Gottheimer (D-NJ) received $5,800 from Bankman-Fried. A spokesperson for Gottheimer said he is donating the amount to charity. 

    13. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) received $5,700 from Bankman-Fried. Booker’s campaign told Popular Information that he “donated the $5,700 contribution from [Bankman-Fried] to a New Jersey-based charity.” 

    14. Representative Dave Joyce (R-OH) received $2,900 from Salame. Joyce’s office told Popular Information that he plans to donate the money to the Greater Cleveland Food Bank. 

    15. The American Patriots PAC, a group “dedicated to electing conservative heroic veterans,” received $150,000 from FTX. The group told Popular Information that the donation has been returned.

    16. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) received $20,800 from Bankman-Fried. According to Bloomberg, Stabenow plans to “donate the money to a charity in her state.”

    17. Representative-elect Becca Balint (D-VT) received $2,900 from Bankman-Fried. According to the VTDigger, Balint plans to donate the funds to “the Vermont-based Committee on Temporary Shelter.”

    18. Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) received $2,900 from Bankman-Fried. The Wall Street Journal reported that a representative for Collins said that the funds would be donated to charity. 

    19. Beto O’Rourke, the former Democratic candidate for governor of Texas, received $1 million from Bankman-Fried. According to Bloomberg, O’Rourke had already returned the donation to Bankman-Fried before FTX announced its bankruptcy. 

    Popular Information previously reported that Representatives Kevin Hern (R-OK), Chuy Garcia (D-IL), and Salud Carbajal (D-CA) donated campaign contributions received from FTX executives. Senator John Hoeven (R-ND), who received $5,800 from Bankman-Fried, also pledged to “give the contribution to whatever reimbursement fund is set up by the bankruptcy court.” Representative David Schweikert (R-AZ) and Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) also told the Daily Beast they would be donating the funds received from FTX executives.
    Largest recipients of FTX cash stay quiet

    Many candidates and PACs that received donations from FTX executives did not return requests for comment. This includes some of the top recipients of donations, including the House Majority PAC, which received $6 million from Bankman-Fried; Mitch McConnell’s Super PAC, the Senate Leadership Fund, which received $1 million from FTX and $2.5 million from Salame; the Democratic National Committee, which received $865,000 from Bankman-Fried; the NRCC, which received $184,800 from FTX executives; and the DCCC, which received $156,400 from FTX executives. 

    Other major recipients that did not respond to requests for comment include Senator Maggie Hassan (D-NH) ($20,600), Representative Alex Mooney (R-WV) ($11,600), and Representative Ronny Jackson (R-TX) ($10,000). The campaign for Jake Auchincloss (D-MA) ($5,800) declined to comment on the record. 
  • What am I missing here? Shouldn't that money go back into the bankruptcy to be distributed to the investors? Charity is good, don't get me wrong but that money was obtained, presumably, through fraud. It isn't the individual politician's money to give away, is it? If it is, it shouldn't be.
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