Long Island Congressman George Santos Arrested for Money Laundering and Wire Fraud Linked to FTX Scandal
Congressman George Santos from Long Island has been arrested and charged with embezzling campaign funds, including $50,000 for personal expenses. Santos has ties to Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX, who is facing multiple indictments. Bankman-Fried's political influence campaign aimed to pass the Digital Commodities Consumer Protection Act (DCCPA), which would have benefitted FTX but was met with opposition from the crypto industry. Evidence suggests that Mind the Gap, a pre-FTX fundraising organization, may have helped identify candidates who received donations of stolen FTX customer funds.
The Overwhelming Presence of SBF: A Book Author's Struggle to Extract the Story of FTX.
The author of a book on the FTX collapse is finding it difficult to concentrate on research due to the constant presence of CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. Despite trying to gather information on Alameda Research-backed companies, the author is overwhelmed by Bankman-Fried's voice and media appearances. Bankman-Fried's use of Twitter Spaces has become a popular way for him to communicate, but the author struggles to separate the noise from the actual story. The author questions whether making wealth from cryptocurrency to help others is harmful and reflects on the appeal of SBF's story, but also considers the possibility that SBF may not have been the hero people hoped for. Perhaps we don't need a hero to save the world.
SBF’s ‘Ghost Is Still in This Room,’ Congressman Says at Digital Asset Hearing
It’s not Halloween, but crypto critic Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., is seeing ghosts.
Judge Approves Alternate Monitoring Software on SBF Parents’ Phones
Judge Lewis Kaplan approved the alternative method employed by Sam Bankman-Fried’s lawyers to monitor his parents’ cell phones despite not meeting some of the conditions set by the court.
SBF’s Lawyers Unable To Tap His Parent’s Phones To Meet Bail Conditions
Sam Bankman-Fried's legal team has requested a third extension on the enforcement of his revised bail conditions in the Southern District of New York. The lawyers cited difficulties in installing monitoring software on Bankman-Fried's parents' cell phones to capture a photo of the user "every five minutes." The legal team stated they were optimistic about finding a solution but needed more time to conduct further tests on the monitoring software to confirm its capabilities.
SBF Constantly Shaded CZ Before FTX Collapsed
Binance's Chief Strategy Officer, Patrick Hilmann, has accused Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and former CEO of FTX, of consistently criticizing Binance's CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) before FTX's collapse. Hilmann called this behavior "shading" and alleged that SBF frequently spread fake rumors about CZ and referred to him as an "evil Chinese." Hilmann's tweet was based on a report by veteran business writer William Cohan, which included comments from financier Anthony Scaramucci.
SBF's Lawyers File for Second Extension to Comply with New Bail Conditions
Lawyers for FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) have filed for a second extension to comply with new bail conditions that were set in December 2022 but have been modified several times since then. The latest set of conditions, which were updated in March, require SBF to only use a flip phone with no internet access and a laptop with limited functionality, and to surrender all electronic devices.
CFTC Sues Binance and CZ; SBF Allegedly Paid $40 Million to Bride Chinese Official | Cointime Weekly Mar.26 – Apr.1
Do Kwon extradition sought by US and South Korea; US gov sold $216M of seized Silk Road Bitcoin this month; Denmark says Bitcoin profits are taxable; Ledger raises most of $109M round.
Some FTX Clients Want SBF’s Exchange to Come Back From the Dead Despite Being ‘Scammed’
Despite being described as "one of the biggest financial frauds in American history", a small group of FTX customers are hoping the troubled crypto exchange gets back in business. They track the exchange's financial statements in bankruptcy court, tally up the “reboot” meetings disclosed in lawyers’ hourly bills and document it all online. The company's new CEO, John Ray III, has floated rebooting the company, stating that "everything is on the table". However, the idea has left some industry experts scratching their heads, with one calling it "the oldest scam in crypto". FTX collapsed last fall after revealing it was short $8bn in customer cash, and its former CEO, Samuel Bankman-Fried, is currently facing trial on charges including bank fraud and bribery of Chinese officials.
SBF Hoarded Too Much Data for the FBI to Handle
The laptop of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried holds so much data that the FBI is struggling to analyze it, according to reports from Business Insider on March 30.
