Key Takeaways
- The court has asked Sam Bankman-Fried, Gary Wang, former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison, and former co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets Nishad Singh to produce documents.
- SBF is required to produce documents related to FTX’s proposed acquisition deal by Binance and why it did not materialize.
- The individuals must provide all documents related to payments received or made to FTX.
- Individuals are required to produce the documents by February 16, while SBF has until February 17.
Ever since FTX filed for bankruptcy proceedings in November, the creditors have been continuously seeking reasons behind the exchange’s collapse.
In the latest development, FTX’s committee of unsecured creditors had received court approval to issue subpoenas to individuals with insider information on the exchange’s activities.
The court has ordered FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, Bankman-SBF’s father, former FTX CTO Gary Wang, former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison, and former co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets Nishad Singh to produce documents related to the collapsed exchange’s inner workings.
The individuals are now mandated to provide all documents related to payments received or made to FTX. On top of that, the insiders are all required to provide details of communication made with the FTX group, other FTX insiders, and the Bahamian authority.
FTX’s legal team is seeking specific information from each individual with insider intel on FTX’s workings. For instance, the court had explicitly asked SBF and Ellison to provide information about all communications sent or received from personal email accounts or instant messaging platforms concerning the FTX Group or assets of the FTX Group or its sister trading firm-Alameda.
While FTX’s former engineering chief Nishad Singh, is required by the court to provide documents on FTX’s automated liquidation engine and bills for cloud hosting at Amazon. SBF is also required to produce documents related to FTX’s proposed acquisition deal by Binance and why it did not materialise.
The court further wants more info from the insiders on “any payments or other transfers of value to any political campaigns, politicians, political action committees, political parties,” and other affiliated individuals.
Bankman, Sam Bankman-Fried’s father, who has also been issued a subpoena, is required to produce documents on “contemplated, potential, or actual purchases of real estate tied with FTX.”
In early January, Sam Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty to criminal charges of fraud in New York. He was indicted on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and securities fraud, individual charges of securities fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy to avoid campaign finance regulations. Despite SBF resisting to strike a plea deal, his closest allies, Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang, have already pleaded guilty to charges in December 2022.
