Bankrupt cryptocurrency company FTX announced on Friday that Anthony Scaramucci (pictured above), his hedge fund Skybridge Capital, and others including Crypto.com and Mark Zuckerberg-backed lobbying group Fwd.us filed 23 lawsuits against organizations.
These lawsuits are an attempt to recover funds from FTX's creditors following its bankruptcy. FTX said the funds targeted in these lawsuits were made at a time when the company was struggling to meet its cash flow needs, and that the funds targeted by founder and CEO Sam Bankman Fried. It alleges that it was part of an “influence buying campaign” by Mr.
“These 'investments' provided little benefit to the debtors and instead served only to advance Bankman Fried's standing in the worlds of politics and traditional finance,” the lawsuit alleges. said it sought to use it as a “potential source of capital.” He invested in FTX to fill a hole in his balance sheet, thereby keeping his plan alive. ”
Since the company went bankrupt, FTX executives have been convicted on charges including fraud and money laundering. Bankman Freed was sentenced to 25 years in prison and is currently appealing his conviction.
In the case of SkyBridge and Scaramucci, a financier who briefly served as White House communications director under President Donald Trump, FTX acquired SkyBridge in September 2022, just months before FTX went bankrupt and Bankman went bankrupt. announced that it would acquire a 30% stake. Freed was arrested.
According to the complaint, FTX also paid $12 million to sponsor Mr. Scaramucci's SALT conference and invested $10 million in the SkyBridge Coin fund. In return, Scaramucci took Bankman Freed on a “whirlwind tour of the United States and the Middle East” to pitch potential investors, and Scaramucci was “very invested in the success of Bankman Freed's fundraising efforts.” “So he lent his funds to Bankman Freed,” FTX alleges. To avoid showing up to important meetings in his trademark shorts and T-shirt, Bankman Freed put on a suit and tie before the meeting. ”
Meanwhile, Fwd.us' lawsuit alleges that payments to Fwd.us from FTX's sister company Alameda Research “siphon money from FTX Group's creditors and enhance their own personal reputations at the expense of creditors.” “This is part of FTX Insider's integration plan for ”
SkyBridge and Fwd.us did not immediately respond to TechCrunch's requests for comment.