FTX Financial Filing Reveals Yacht Purchase for Former Co-CEO Sam Trabucco

FTX debtors have disclosed a series of financial statements that show top executives used company funds to their own advantage shortly before the cryptocurrency exchange collapsed.

In a recent court filing with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, FTX debtors shed light on payments and property transfers directly benefiting senior executives at FTX and Alameda Research.

One notable transaction highlighted in the filing is a payment of $2.51 million made from FTX to the American Yacht Group in March 2022, which directly benefited former Alameda Research co-CEO Sam Trabucco. 

Several months later, Trabucco confirmed his ownership of a boat in an August 2022 tweet announcing his resignation from the company. 

Caroline Ellison, Trabucco’s former co-CEO at Alameda, responded to the tweet, expressing her well wishes and hopes that he would enjoy more time on his new boat.

The financial statements also revealed cash payments made to FTX executives, including Sam Bankman-Fried, Gary Wang, Nishad Singh, Darren Wong, and Constance Wang, within the twelve months leading up to the collapse. 

It is important to note that these disclosures only pertain to fiat currency, with limited information available regarding crypto transactions.

The filing clarifies that not all transfers of cryptocurrency or other digital assets have been included in the disclosures.

“Responses to this question do not currently include all transfers of cryptocurrency, other digital assets or other assets,” it stated.

Another significant disclosure in the filing is the purchase of Robinhood shares by FTX co-founder Gary Wang and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. 

In April 2022, they acquired Robinhood shares worth $35,185,242, followed by an additional $19.45 million in May 2022. 

Bankman-Fried held a 90% share ownership, with Wang holding the remaining 10% through their company, Emergent Fidelity Technologies. 

However, in January, the US Department of Justice seized the shares belonging to Bankman-Fried and Wang.

Bankman-Fried Faces New Allegations After Being Jailed

Bankman-Fried is facing new allegations from the Department of Justice (DOJ), including the embezzlement of customer funds. 

According to an indictment filed last month, the disgraced crypto boss is accused of misappropriating and embezzling customer deposits from FTX, using the stolen funds to make over $100 million in political campaign contributions ahead of the 2022 US midterm elections.

The DOJ has also alleged that Bankman-Fried misappropriated and embezzled FTX customer deposits, utilizing the funds for personal enrichment, political donations, and to cover Alameda’s operating costs.

The new charges came after Bankman-Fried, who was initially released on a $250 million bond, was returned to jail in August after attempting to contact a witness and leaking another witness’s diary to the media. 

More recently, his lawyers asked for a temporary release from jail in order to work on his defense with his lawyers at the federal courthouse in Manhattan. 

However, Judge Lewis Kaplan of the Southern District of New York declined to grant the release during a hearing last week.