Key takeaways:
- Voyager UCC has sent subpoenas to several FTX and Alameda Research employees.
- Bankman-Fried has just a few days to complete the necessary paperwork before his court appearance the following week.
Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the former CEO of FTX, and several other senior officials from FTX and Alameda Research have been asked by representatives of Voyager’s unsecured creditors to deliver papers and take a deposition in court remotely the following week.
Bankman-Fried has been served with a “Subpoena to Testify at a Deposition in a Bankruptcy Case,” according to a court document filed on February 18 in the Southern District of New York’s United States Bankruptcy Court.
He was notified of the “remote deposition” on February 23 by the Official Committee for the Unsecured Creditors of Voyager Digital Holdings, a defunct crypto lending exchange. Additionally, it demanded that Bankman-Fried deliver all needed “documents and communications” by February 20 at the latest.
This follows the disclosure in a court document on February 6 that the lawyers for Voyager had issued subpoenas to Caroline Ellison, CEO of Bankman-Fried and Alameda, Gary Wang, co-founder of FTX, and Ramnic Arora, head of product at FTX.
Judge John Dorsey had already given the go-ahead for FTX debtors to serve subpoenas on Bankman-family Fried’s members and former FTX coworkers to obtain information and documents from them.
The letter reveals that the subpoena issued by Voyager UCC includes a request for documents pertaining to Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang’s admissions. Voyager UCC’s legal team has asked for proof to back up statements made by the current CEO, John J. Ray III, that FTX-affiliated businesses “used software to conceal the misuse of customer cash” and did not maintain proper books and records.
FTX’s financial situation before and after the company filed for bankruptcy on November 11, 2022, as well as information on the loan portfolio shared by Alameda and Voyager, were the subjects of subpoenas issued by the attorneys.
The lawyers also look for proof of any fiduciary responsibility violations or other wrongdoing by any of the executives in connection with the bankruptcy filing. The subpoenas ordered the executives to turn over all correspondence and paperwork pertaining to Voyager Digital, FTX, and Alameda Research.
The subpoenas sought information regarding the financial standing of FTX before and after the company declared bankruptcy on November 11, 2022, as well as the loan portfolio that was shared by Alameda and Voyager.
Michael Wiles, the bankruptcy judge in charge of Voyager’s Chapter 11 case in the US, had previously said he would appoint a fee examiner to look into the professional expenses associated with the case. As Judge Wiles noted, a fee examiner will be helpful because the costs related to the bankruptcy procedure are much higher than previously projected.
