Former FTX US head Brett Harrison to spill dirt on crypto disaster
Former FTX US boss Brett Harrison pledged on Sunday night to spill more details about the doomed crypto exchange’s inner workings – and hinted he may already be cooperating with the feds.
Harrison has kept a low profile in recent weeks as disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested and other top executives began talking to investigators about alleged illicit activity at the company.
“What did you know about @FTX_Official US and when did you know it?” a Twitter user asked Harrison on Sunday night.
“I’ll share in time,” Harrison replied.
When another asked why Harrison wasn’t already “in prison,” the former FTX executive replied that they should “use powers of inference.”
The Post has reached out to Harrison for further comment.
Harrison served as president of FTX’s US operation until he abruptly stepped down from the high-ranking post last September after less than 18 months on the job. At the time, Bloomberg described Harrison’s departure as a “surprise exit” that raised eyebrows within the cryptocurrency sector.
Two months after Harrison left, FTX was forced into bankruptcy after Bankman-Fried allegedly engaged in what the feds have described as “one of the biggest financial frauds” in history.
Prior to joining FTX, Harrison had stints at Citadel Securities and the quantitative trading firm Jane Street. Bankman-Fried and his ex-lover Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of the shuttered cryptocurrency hedge fund Alameda Research, are also Jane Street alums.
Earlier this month, Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty to eight federal charges related to FTX’s collapse. Prosecutors allege that he and other FTX executives pilfered customer funds that they used to bankroll a lavish lifestyle, make investments and prop up risky bets at Alameda.
Several former FTX executives have already reportedly begun cooperating with investigators.
Both Ellison and FTX co-founder Gary Wang took plea deals and admitted to fraud last month. Manhattan US Attorney Damian Williams said “they are both cooperating with the Southern District of New York.”
A court transcript revealed that Ellison said she was “truly sorry” for her role in the alleged fraud scheme, in which she and Bankman-Fried purportedly funneled FTX customer funds to Alameda.
Another executive, Ryan Salame, reportedly tipped off regulators in the Bahamas, where FTX was based, that customer funds were being illicitly transferred to “cover financial losses” at Alameda.
Former FTX chief regulatory officer Dan Friedberg, an attorney with links to the infamous UltimateBet online poker scandal, began cooperating with the feds back in November and gave them information on how Bankman-Fried used customer funds to “finance his business empire,” Reuters reported.
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