US federal prosecutors could be building a fraud case against FTX founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. Bloomberg reports Justice Department officials met with the crypto exchange’s bankruptcy team this week to discuss documents investigators aim to obtain from the company.
The meeting included prosecutors from the Southern District of New York, Assistant US Attorney Roos, agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and lawyers from FTX. Roos, notably, was involved in the prosecution of Nikola founder Trevor Milton, who was convicted of misleading investors earlier this year. According to Bloomberg, potential charges were not discussed at the meeting that occurred this week.
The Justice Department is “closely” examining whether FTX improperly transferred hundreds of millions of dollars around the time the company declared bankruptcy on November 11th. It’s also probing whether the exchange broke the law when it moved funds to sister company Alameda Research.
In his recent New York Times interview, Bankman-Fried denied knowingly misusing customer funds. “Clearly, I made a lot of mistakes. There are things I would give anything to be able to do over again,” he said. “I did not ever try to commit fraud on anyone.” He will testify before the House Committee on Financial Services next week, a panel that will also include testimony from FTX’s current CEO, John J. Ray III. Ray has accused Bankman-Fried of making “erratic and misleading public statements” about FTX.