The FTX Gigafraud

[Reciever]

Unless I missed something, doesnt seem relevant to this thread?

[Etern4l]

Ah yeah, I auto-replied assuming this must be the Twitter thread lol

[ryan]

lol wrong thread i just noticed that. sorry guys

[Aaron44126]

https://www.theblock.co/post/225497/sam-bankman-fried-alameda-report

 

One of the more eye-catching items concerned Alameda Research, the trading firm that allegedly had access to billions of dollars in customer funds stored with FTX. The report states that Alameda “often had difficulty understanding what its positions were, let alone hedging or accounting for them.” Former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, now under house arrest and facing a litany of criminal charges, described Alameda in internal communications as “hilariously beyond any threshold of any auditor being able to even get partially through an audit,” according to the report.

 

He went on: “Alameda is unauditable. I don’t mean this in the sense of ‘a major accounting firm will have reservations about auditing it’; I mean this in the sense of ‘we are only able to ballpark what its balances are, let alone something like a comprehensive transaction history.’ We sometimes find $50m of assets lying around that we lost track of; such is life.”

 

...

 

The management of private keys and seed phrases — used to control access to crypto assets — was shambolic, according to the report. In one example, private keys for over $100 million in Ethereum assets were stored in plain text without encryption on an FTX Group server; in another, single-signature-based keys that controlled access to billions of dollars in crypto assets were stored in AWS Secrets Manager or a password vault, each accessible by numerous employees; and many private keys were stored without back-up procedures, meaning funds would be permanently lost if the associated key was. The list goes on.

[Etern4l]

45 minutes ago, Aaron44126 said:

https://www.theblock.co/post/225497/sam-bankman-fried-alameda-report

 

One of the more eye-catching items concerned Alameda Research, the trading firm that allegedly had access to billions of dollars in customer funds stored with FTX. The report states that Alameda “often had difficulty understanding what its positions were, let alone hedging or accounting for them.” Former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, now under house arrest and facing a litany of criminal charges, described Alameda in internal communications as “hilariously beyond any threshold of any auditor being able to even get partially through an audit,” according to the report.

 

He went on: “Alameda is unauditable. I don’t mean this in the sense of ‘a major accounting firm will have reservations about auditing it’; I mean this in the sense of ‘we are only able to ballpark what its balances are, let alone something like a comprehensive transaction history.’ We sometimes find $50m of assets lying around that we lost track of; such is life.”

 

...

 

The management of private keys and seed phrases — used to control access to crypto assets — was shambolic, according to the report. In one example, private keys for over $100 million in Ethereum assets were stored in plain text without encryption on an FTX Group server; in another, single-signature-based keys that controlled access to billions of dollars in crypto assets were stored in AWS Secrets Manager or a password vault, each accessible by numerous employees; and many private keys were stored without back-up procedures, meaning funds would be permanently lost if the associated key was. The list goes on.

 

Oh dear, criminal negligence and failure of the duty of care over the client funds, although in this case perhaps the defense attempt will be that it wasn't Alamada clients' money in the first place, just a loan from FTX lol. Hardly unexpected of course. Just goes to show the obvious: putting money into unregulated offshore funds run by a bunch of kids, no matter their pedigree, is a terrible idea. Hopefully people will remember this lesson for a while, as they proceed to wrestle with their greed, as we do.

[Etern4l]

I just read the headline, incredible. A Madoff-grade scumbag. 

 

SBF says “dishonesty and unfair dealing” aren’t fraud, seeks to dismiss charges

[Aaron44126]

Enough is enough.  SBF is in jail.

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/08/sam-bankman-fried-is-going-to-jail/

https://www.theverge.com/2023/8/11/23829004/ftx-sam-bankman-fried-bail-revoked-vpn-signal

 

[Edit]

Better write-up.

https://www.npr.org/2023/08/11/1191362886/ftx-sam-bankman-fried-sbf-crypto-fraud

[Etern4l]

That’s really unfair. Penalised for well-meaning, if perhaps a little naive and incompetent, communications which may have affected fellow human beings who unfortunately turned out to be witnesses:it’s not SBFs fault prosecution got so many people talking, who could keep track?

[Aaron44126]

SBF trial started today with jury selection; expected to last about six weeks.

https://www.theverge.com/23894366/ftx-sam-bankman-fried-trial-updates-news

 

His parents are also facing some legal issues.

https://www.npr.org/2023/10/02/1200764160/sam-bankman-fried-sbf-parents-ftx-crypto-collapse-trial-stanford-law-school

[Etern4l]

Quick check at Law&Crime Network... nope, not televised - too bad ;)

[Aaron44126]

These are fun articles on the trial proceedings.  Seems like damning evidence plus inept defense for most of it.  (The defense hasn't really started their side of the case yet, though.)

• https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/4/23903986/sam-bankman-fried-opening-statements-trial-fraud
• https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/5/23905665/sam-bankman-fried-fraud-trial-wang-yedidia-testimony
• https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/6/23906899/ftx-alameda-sam-bankman-fried-trial-gary-wang-testimony
• https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/10/23912036/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-caroline-ellison-alameda-research
• https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/11/23913665/ftx-sam-bankman-fried-fraud-trial-caroline-ellison-testimony-alameda-balance-sheets
• https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/12/23915108/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-alameda-caroline-ellison-lawyers
• https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/16/23920125/sam-bankman-fried-nishad-singh-testimony-ftx-trial
• https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/17/23921745/sam-bankman-fried-nishad-singh-house-loan

[Aaron44126]

SBF is going to testify tomorrow!

https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/25/23931697/sam-bankman-fried-testifying-ftx-fraud-trial

(It has not been clear whether he would or not; it opens him up to cross-examination from the prosecution ...)

[Etern4l]

8 hours ago, Aaron44126 said:

SBF is going to testify tomorrow!

https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/25/23931697/sam-bankman-fried-testifying-ftx-fraud-trial

(It has not been clear whether he would or not; it opens him up to cross-examination from the prosecution ...)

Why wouldn’t he testify? Was a legit outfit, just bad luck. /s

[Aaron44126]

SBF testified yesterday, but the jury was dismissed and it was just to the judge.  It was a hearing to decide what testimony would be admissible to present to the jury today.

 

...Nonetheless, it didn't seem to go well for him.  He spent a lot of time dodging questions with word salad and had to be asked multiple times.  I think he's used to be able to talk his way through interviews and whatever with nonsense, but of course here neither Sassoon nor Kaplan would let him do that.

https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/26/23934195/sam-bankman-fried-self-testimony-deleted-signal

[Etern4l]

Yeah, this looks a bit similar to Ted Bundy”s trial,  who was so used to running circles around the police, that in the end he decided to represent himself and personally conduct witness cross-examination, which of course resulted in self-incrimnation.

[ryan]

I don't know about ted bundy but this reminds me of ENRON. the system creates fraud opportunities that people take to control the masses with topics to distract us from the truth

[Etern4l]

Well, Enron - being the largest case of corportate fraud to date - was similar although the scandal was much larger. It was a publicly traded US company, with 20k employees who lost their jobs and pensions. Something like $50B in investor losses. Arthur Andersen went down. Crazy stuff.

 

FTX was big too - lost about $10B of investor monies and SBF himself apparently lost $16B, although that’s likely debatable - but not quite at the same level as Enron in terms of impact.

 

Also not sure how eventful the Enron trial was in terms of erratic behaviour on the part of defendants. One guy died of heart attack prior to sentencing, so there is that I guess.

[ryan]

yeah its crazy stuff. i always have to break it down to millions in my head to see just how massive the scandle is. 10 000 million. i wont lie, if i had the opportunity to net 10 000 million id probably give it a go, but i wouldn't do it if mam and paps people were getting screwed. i dont mind ripping pennies from big companies but sometimes the risk is worth it. money and health is all that matters when you have the basics including friends/family

[Aaron44126]

Well, that went well.

https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/30/23939639/sam-bankman-fried-cross-exam-fraud

 

[Edit]

More from today...

https://www.theverge.com/2023/10/31/23940814/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-alameda-customer-funds-fraud-trial

[Aaron44126]

Guilty!

https://www.theverge.com/policy/2023/11/2/23943236/sam-bankman-fried-trial-sbf-fraud-guilty

Sentencing is not until ... March 28, almost five months away.

 

Not even done.  There's a second trial on more charges, also starting in March.

[Aaron44126]

Second trial cancelled. Seems prosecutors decided that it is unnecessary. Still three months until sentencing.

 

https://www.reuters.com/legal/sam-bankman-fried-will-not-face-second-trial-us-prosecutors-say-2023-12-29/

[Etern4l]

9 hours ago, Aaron44126 said:

Second trial cancelled. Seems prosecutors decided that it is unnecessary. Still three months until sentencing.

 

https://www.reuters.com/legal/sam-bankman-fried-will-not-face-second-trial-us-prosecutors-say-2023-12-29/

 

Doesn't smell right - another trial would mean an opportunity for further convictions. Not clear how pending sentencing on the back of the first trial factors in here, should be independent from any other proceedings. Mom and dad + network hard at work behind the scenes I guess.

[Aaron44126]

On 12/30/2023 at 6:19 AM, Etern4l said:

 

Doesn't smell right - another trial would mean an opportunity for further convictions. Not clear how pending sentencing on the back of the first trial factors in here, should be independent from any other proceedings. Mom and dad + network hard at work behind the scenes I guess.

Looks like they possibly did it to avoid delays in sentencing and restitution?

https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2024/01/bankman-fried-wont-face-trial-over-alleged-foreign-bribes-campaign-funds/

 

[Etern4l]

Makes no sense. Why would a second trial affect any orders of restitution or sentencing in relation to the first trial? Double jeopardy presumably is not the issue, as there would be no talk of a second trial in the first place. 

[Reciever]

14 minutes ago, Etern4l said:

Makes no sense. Why would a second trial affect any orders of restitution or sentencing in relation to the first trial? Double jeopardy presumably is not the issue, as there would be no talk of a second trial in the first place. 

Perhaps the additional charges didnt have strong enough evidence? no idea personally.