SBF’s Robinhood Shares Worth $450M Seized by the US Department of Justice
The US Department of Justice has announced that it has seized SBF’s 55,273,469 Robinhood shares worth an estimated $450 million and an additional $20 million in cash.
The fate of approximately $450 million in Robinhood shares owned by founder and former CEO of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, held through a separate corporate entity, Emergent Fidelity Technology Ltd., has finally concluded.
The United States Department of Justice (US DoJ) has notified the bankruptcy court district of New Jersey that it has seized the 55,273,469 Robinhood shares worth an estimated $450 million alongside $20.746 million in hard cash from an account at ED&F Man Capital markets Inc. ‘pursuant to judicially authorised seizure warrants issued in the Southern District of New York.’
Seized Assets Were Involved in Violations of US Laws and Regulations
In addition, the US DoJ explained that the seized assets constitute property involved in the violation of existing laws and regulations related to fraud and money laundering.
‘The Indictment [against SBF] includes forfeiture allegations, seeking to forfeit property that constitutes or was derived from proceeds traceable to the conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, and property involved in the conspiracy to commit money laundering,’ the Department of Justice said.
The Seized Assets are Not Part of the FTX Bankruptcy Estate
The US Department of Justice also clarified that given that SBF is in the process of being charged and possibly tried for criminal offences, the Robinhood shares are not the bankruptcy estate’s property.
They classify as forfeitable property assets to the US government at the time of the offences in question, thus preventing them from entering into the custody of the bankruptcy estate.
SBF Had Tried to Stop FTX Debtors from Seizing the Robinhood Shares
The seizure of the Robinhood shares comes less than a week after Sam Bankman-Fried filed a court action seeking to block FTX debtors and BlockFi from claiming ownership of them.
SBF had argued that he needed the Robinhood shares to fund his legal defence for the eight counts he is facing: conspiracy to commit wire fraud on customers, wire fraud on customers, conspiracy to commit wire fraud on lenders, wire fraud on lenders, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to violate U.S. campaign finance laws.
~By John P. Njui~
