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SEC Charges Samuel Bankman-Fried with Defrauding Investors in Crypto Asset Trading Platform FTX

Defendant Concealed His Diversion of FTX Customers' Funds to Crypto Trading Firm Alameda Research While Raising More Than $1.8 Billion from Investors

Litigation Release No. 25616 / January 19, 2023

Securities and Exchange Commission v. Samuel Bankman-Fried, No. 1:22-cv-10501 (S.D.N.Y. filed Dec. 13, 2022)

The Securities and Exchange Commission charged Samuel Bankman-Fried with orchestrating a scheme to defraud equity investors in FTX Trading Ltd. (FTX), the crypto trading platform of which he was the CEO and co-founder. Investigations as to other securities law violations and into other entities and persons relating to the alleged misconduct are ongoing.

According to the SEC's complaint, since at least May 2019, FTX, based in The Bahamas, raised more than $1.8 billion from equity investors, including approximately $1.1 billion from approximately 90 U.S.-based investors. In his representations to investors, Bankman-Fried promoted FTX as a safe, responsible crypto asset trading platform, specifically touting FTX's sophisticated, automated risk measures to protect customer assets. The complaint alleges that, in reality, Bankman-Fried orchestrated a years-long fraud to conceal from FTX's investors (1) the undisclosed diversion of FTX customers' funds to Alameda Research LLC, his privately-held crypto hedge fund; (2) the undisclosed special treatment afforded to Alameda on the FTX platform, including providing Alameda with a virtually unlimited "line of credit" funded by the platform's customers and exempting Alameda from certain key FTX risk mitigation measures; and (3) undisclosed risk stemming from FTX's exposure to Alameda's significant holdings of overvalued, illiquid assets such as FTX-affiliated tokens. The complaint further alleges that Bankman-Fried used commingled FTX customers' funds at Alameda to make undisclosed venture investments, lavish real estate purchases, and large political donations.

The SEC's complaint charges Bankman-Fried with violating Section 17(a) of the Securities Act of 1933 (the "Securities Act") and Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the "Exchange Act") and Rule 10b-5 thereunder. The SEC's complaint seeks injunctions against future securities law violations; an injunction that prohibits Bankman-Fried from participating in the issuance, purchase, offer, or sale of any securities, except for his own personal account; disgorgement of his ill-gotten gains; a civil penalty; and an officer and director bar.

In parallel actions, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) announced charges against Bankman-Fried.

The SEC's ongoing investigation is being conducted by Devlin N. Su, Ivan Snyder, and David S. Brown of the Crypto Assets and Cyber Unit and Brian Huchro and Pasha Salimi. It is being supervised by Amy Flaherty Hartman, Michael Brennan, Jorge Tenreiro, and David Hirsch. The SEC's litigation will be led by Amy Burkart and David D'Addio and supervised by Ladan Stewart and Olivia Choe. Additional assistance to the investigation was provided by Steven Buchholz, Erin Wilk, Serafima McTigue, William Connolly, and Howard Kaplan.

The SEC appreciates the assistance of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, the FBI, and the CFTC.

https://www.sec.gov/litigation/complaints/2023/comp25616.pdf