U.S. Department of Justice seizes assets held by former CEO Sam

90 billion yen worth of assets seized

The total amount of assets seized by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) was $700 million ( Approximately 90 billion yen) was revealed on the 20th.

In a court filing, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams said the future convictions of SBF defendants were determined for assets consisting of stocks, cash and cryptocurrencies held in 10 separate accounts. We are requesting that it be possible to confiscate at a stage.

The seized assets include 55 million shares of Robinhood (HOOD) stock (market value: 68.1 billion yen). Federal prosecutors have alleged that HOOD shares were purchased with $456 million in allegedly stolen client money, but the defendants have denied the charges.

US$20 million (¥2.7 billion), along with HOOD shares, was held in an account under the name of SBF and FTX co-founder Gary Wang’s holding company (Emergent Fidelity Technologies).

A total of US$171 million (22 billion yen) was also seized from three accounts in the name of FTX Digital Markets in the Bahamas.

Three accounts of major cryptocurrency exchange Binance and US branch Binance US were also seized, but the asset values ​​have not been disclosed.

These accounts were seized by US government authorities between January 4th and January 19th.

Relation:U.S. Department of Justice Seizes $600 Million of Robinhood Shares Owned by Former FTX CEO

What is the future of HOOD stock?

In particular, regarding the 55 million units of HOOD stock, FTX creditors (financial companies) who want to collect funds are part of the asset liquidation of FTX, which filed for bankruptcy under Chapter 11 (Chapter 11) of the US Bankruptcy Code in November 2010. BlockFi, etc.), the current management, and the SBF defendants who wanted to raise legal fees were in a legal battle over ownership.

The U.S. government has suspended the bankruptcy process for assets such as HOOD shares seized in early January, citing them as income or property linked to criminal and civil law violations related to crimes such as money laundering and wire fraud. Claimed to be outside.

If these assets are confiscated, it is currently unclear what the funds will be used for. In the Bernard Madoff case, the largest fraud case in history, the confiscated funds were returned to victims through the US Department of Justice’s Confiscated Assets Distribution Program, the Madoff Relief Fund (MVF).

SBF pleaded not guilty to eight criminal charges at a public hearing on Wednesday, and the trial was set to begin on October 2, 2023.

Relation:Former FTX CEO Sam pleads not guilty to arraignment