Key Takeaways
The DOJ has seized over 55 million Robinhood shares and $20.7 million belonging to Emergent Fidelity Technologies.
While the holding company isn’t part of the FTX estate, the DOJ believes it was funded by Bankman-Fried with misappropriated customer money.
Bankman-Fried had previously fought to keep the shares in his control in order to pay for his legal fees.
Share this article
Despite Sam Bankman-Fried’s best efforts, the DOJ has decided to seize the Robinhood shares the FTX whiz kid bought through Emergent Fidelity Technologies.
$490 Million Seized
Two months after FTX’s collapse, authorities are still busy seizing assets related in one way or another to the defunct crypto exchange.
According to a court filing dated January 6, the Department of Justice has seized 55,273,469 shares of Robinhood stock belonging to FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried through a holding company, Emergent Fidelity Technologies. At the time of writing, the shares are worth more than $469 million. The document indicates that the DOJ seized a further $20.7 million from Emergent Fidelity Technologies from an account at ED&F Man Capital Markets.
The DOJ said the assets had been seized because they had been bought by Bankman-Fried with misappropriated funds. According to the filing, Bankman-Fried’s assets constitute property involved in money laundering and wire fraud.
Another court document filed by FTX (under John Ray and the liquidation team) on December 22 claims that Emergent Fidelity Technologies is a special-purpose holding company that had no other business except holding that stock. The company is reportedly 90% owned by Bankman-Fried.
While the DOJ acknowledged that FTX debtor BlockFi had expressed an interest in being handed over the assets, it pointed out that Emergent Fidelity Technologies was not part of the FTX estate and therefore not involved in the bankruptcy proceedings yet.
The $490 million seizure is another blow to Bankman-Fried, who had petitioned to keep control of Emergent Fidelity Technologies. He claimed he wanted to use the Robinhood shares to pay for his legal fees.
Bankman-Fried previously secured a $250 million bail package that requires him to stay at home with his parents in their house in Palo Alto.
Disclaimer: At the time of writing, the author of this piece owned BTC, ETH, and several other crypto assets.
Share this article
The information on or accessed through this website is obtained from independent sources we believe to be accurate and reliable, but Decentral Media, Inc. makes no representation or warranty as to the timeliness, completeness, or accuracy of any information on or accessed through this website. Decentral Media, Inc. is not an investment advisor. We do not give personalized investment advice or other financial advice. The information on this website is subject to change without notice. Some or all of the information on this website may become outdated, or it may be or become incomplete or inaccurate. We may, but are not obligated to, update any outdated, incomplete, or inaccurate information.
You should never make an investment decision on an ICO, IEO, or other investment based on the information on this website, and you should never interpret or otherwise rely on any of the information on this website as investment advice. We strongly recommend that you consult a licensed investment advisor or other qualified financial professional if you are seeking investment advice on an ICO, IEO, or other investment. We do not accept compensation in any form for analyzing or reporting on any ICO, IEO, cryptocurrency, currency, tokenized sales, securities, or commodities.
See full terms and conditions.