Feds seize more than $170 million in cash accounts linked to Sam Bankman-Fried
The Justice Department has seized more than $170 million in cash from multiple accounts associated with disgraced FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried, according to court documents filed Friday. This is in addition to an estimated $526 million in stock which was also seized by the federal government.
According to the federal court documents obtained by CBS News, the seizures occurred on Jan. 4.
They included $94.5 million in an account in Silvergate Bank, a California based bank specializing in cryptocurrencies, along with nearly $50 million held at Farmington State Bank, which is based in Washington state, and $20.7 million in currency in accounts in ED&F Man Capital Markets.
Prosecutors also seized 55.27 million shares of Robinhood stock from an ED&F Man Capital Markets account, according to the court filing. The stock for Robinhood, an online trading platform, closed at $9.52 a share Friday, putting the value of that seizure at more than $526 million.
On Dec. 12, the 30-year-old Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas on federal charges of wire fraud and conspiracy related to the collapse of his cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
After being extradited to the U.S., he pleaded not guilty to all charges in a Jan. 3 hearing. He remains free on $250 million bond. He has been ordered to live at his parents' house in California until his trial, which is scheduled to begin in October.
The sudden collapse of FTX has reverberated throughout the financial world and garnered questions about the viability of cryptocurrency. On Nov. 11, FTX filed for bankruptcy, just after Bankman-Fried told investors the company was experiencing an $8 billion shortfall.