FTX funneled $3.2B to Sam Bankman-Fried, other founders

Bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX made transfers of about $2.2 billion to company founder Sam Bankman-Fried through related entities, the company’s new management said.

Overall more than $3.2 billion was transferred through payments and loans to company founders and key employees, FTX said in a statement on Wednesday.

These payments were made chiefly from Alameda Research hedge fund, FTX said, adding that it made these disclosures by filing schedules and statements of financial affairs with the bankruptcy court.

The crypto exchange said the transfers did not include over $240 million spent to purchase luxury property in the Bahamas, political and charitable donations made directly by the FTX debtors, and substantial transfers to non-debtor units in the Bahamas and other jurisdictions.

A lawyer for Bankman-Fried declined to comment.

FTX filed for bankruptcy protection in November, saying it was unable to completely repay customers who had deposited funds on its exchange. FTX’s new CEO, John Ray, has said his top priority was recovering assets to repay FTX customers. 

Prosecutors have charged Bankman-Fried, 31, with stealing billions of dollars in FTX customer funds to plug losses at Alameda Research, and making tens of millions of dollars in illegal political donations to buy influence in Washington, DC.

He denies wrongdoing and is fighting to stay out of jail pending his scheduled Oct. 2 fraud trial.