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“Risk Of Flight Too Great” – Bankman-Fried Denied Bail, Remanded To Custody

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Update (1700ET): Following his arrest last night, with its expectations of an imminent deportation, Sam Bankman-Fried told a Bahamian judge at an arraignment Tuesday that he wouldn’t waive his right to an extradition hearing.

A defense lawyer said Bankman-Fried planned to fight being sent to the US.

Counsel for SBF has requested bail be set at $250,000.

Manhattan US Attorney Damian Williams called the case “one of the biggest financial frauds in American history” and said the investigation of the alleged scheme is “very much ongoing.”

Which may explain why presiding judge JoyAnn Ferguson-Pratt denied SBF’s bail application, highlighting his “risk of flight” and ordered the crypto executive to be held in custody at the Bahamas Department of Corrections until Feb. 8.

The case has been adjourned to the said date. 

*  *  *

The US Securities and Exchange Commission said it will file charges against FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried on Tuesday relating to violations of securities law, accusing him of “orchestrating a scheme to defraud equity investors in FTX” and seeking to ban him from the cryptocurrency industry.

“We allege that Sam Bankman-Fried built a house of cards on a foundation of deception while telling investors that it was one of the safest buildings in crypto,” said SEC Chair Gary Gensler

The SEC made the announcement on Monday, shortly after Bahamian authorities arrest Bankman-Fried, the US Attorney’s Office Southern District of New York confirmed.

The SEC has charged Bankman-Fried with violating the anti-fraud provisions of the Securities Act of 1933 and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. The SEC’s complaint seeks injunctions against future securities law violation that prohibits Bankman-Fried from participating in the issuance, purchase, offer, or sale of any securities except for his own personal account.

Here are some of the wildest accusations from the SEC’s 28-page filing:

SBF improperly diverted assets to his privately held crypto hedge fund:

Unbeknownst to those investors (and to FTX’s trading customers), Bankman-Fried was orchestrating a massive, years-long fraud, diverting billions of dollars of the trading platform’s customer funds for his own personal benefit and to help grow his crypto empire.

Throughout this period, Bankman-Fried portrayed himself as a responsible leader of the crypto community. He touted the importance of regulation and accountability. He told the public, including investors, that FTX was both innovative and responsible. Customers around the world believed his lies, and sent billions of dollars to FTX, believing their assets were secure on the FTX trading platform. But from the start, Bankman-Fried improperly diverted customer assets to his privately-held crypto hedge fund, Alameda Research LLC (“Alameda”), and then used those customer funds to make undisclosed venture investments, lavish real estate purchases, and large political donations.

Bankman-Fried then exempted his crypto hedge fund, Alameda, from risk mitigation procedures:

He told investors and prospective investors that FTX had top-notch, sophisticated automated risk measures in place to protect customer assets, that those assets were safe and secure, and that Alameda was just another platform customer with no special privileges. These statements were false and misleading. In truth, Bankman-Fried had exempted Alameda from the risk mitigation measures and had provided Alameda with significant special treatment on the FTX platform, including a virtually unlimited “line of credit” funded by the platform’s customers.

While he spent lavishly on office space and condominiums in The Bahamas, and sank billions of dollars of customer funds into speculative venture investments, Bankman-Fried’s house of cards began to crumble.

Here’s how he diverted funds:

Bankman-Fried diverted FTX customer funds to Alameda in essentially two ways: (1) by directing FTX customers to deposit fiat currency (e.g., U.S. Dollars) into bank accounts controlled by Alameda; and (2) by enabling Alameda to draw down from a virtually limitless “line of credit” at FTX, which was funded by FTX customer assets.

As a result, there was no meaningful distinction between FTX customer funds and Alameda’s own funds. Bankman-Fried thus gave Alameda carte blanche to use FTX customer assets for its own trading operations and for whatever other purposes Bankman-Fried saw fit.

SBF had a secret ‘[email protected] account with a negative $8 billion balance’:

Bankman-Fried directed FTX to have customers send funds to North Dimension in an effort to hide the fact that the funds were being sent to an account controlled by Alameda.

Alameda did not segregate these customer funds, but instead commingled them with its other assets, and used them indiscriminately to fund its trading operations and Bankman-Fried’s other ventures.

This multi-billion-dollar liability was reflected in an internal account in the FTX database that was not tied to Alameda but was instead called “[email protected].” Characterizing the amount of customer funds sent to Alameda as an internal FTX account had the effect of concealing Alameda’s liability in FTX’s internal systems.

Here’s how ‘[email protected]‘ was ‘lost’ in the shuffle:

In 2022, FTX began trying to separate Alameda’s portion of the liability in the “[email protected]” account from the portion that was attributable to FTX (i.e., to separate out customer deposits sent to Alameda-controlled bank accounts from deposits sent to FTX-controlled bank accounts). Alameda’s portion — which amounted to more than $8 billion in FTX customer assets that had been deposited into Alameda-controlled bank accounts — was initially moved to a different account in the FTX database. 

However, because this change caused FTX’s internal systems to automatically charge Alameda interest on the more than $8 billion liability, Bankman-Fried directed that the Alameda liability be moved to an account that would not be charged interest. This account was associated with an individual that had no apparent connection to Alameda. As a result, this change had the effect of further concealing Alameda’s liability in FTX’s internal systems.

SBF has claimed in interviews he ‘wasn’t aware’ of how illiquid Alameda’s collateral had become, yet according to the SEC:

Bankman-Fried was well aware of the impact of Alameda’s positions on FTX’s risk profile. On or about October 12, 2022, for example, Bankman-Fried, in a series of tweets, analyzed the manipulation of a digital asset on an unrelated crypto platform. In explaining what occurred, Bankman-Fried distinguished between an asset’s “current price” and its “fair price,” and recognized that “large positions – especially in illiquid tokens – can have a lot of impact.”

Bankman-Fried asserted that FTX’s risk engine required customers to “fully collateralize a position” when the customer’s position is “large and illiquid enough.” But Bankman-Fried knew, or was reckless in not knowing, that by not mitigating for the impact of large and illiquid tokens posted as collateral by Alameda, FTX was engaging in precisely the same conduct, and creating the same risk, that he was warning against.

SEC charged Bankman-Fried for orchestrating a scheme to defraud equity investors in FTX Trading Ltd. (FTX). The regulatory body noted that the former CEO concealed his “diversion of FTX customers’ funds to crypto trading firm Alameda Research while raising more than $1.8 billion from investors.”

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK

Plaintiff: SECURITIES AND ) EXCHANGE COMMISSION,

Defendant: SAMUEL BANKMAN-FRIED Plaintiff Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”), for its complaint against Defendant, Samuel Bankman-Fried (“Bankman-Fried”), alleges as follows:

SUMMARY

1. From at least May 2019 through November 2022, Bankman-Fried engaged in a scheme to defraud equity investors in FTX Trading Ltd. (“FTX”), the crypto asset trading platform of which he was CEO and co-founder, at the same time that he was also defrauding the platform’s customers. Bankman-Fried raised more than $1.8 billion from investors, including U.S. investors, who bought an equity stake in FTX believing that FTX had appropriate controls and risk management measures. Unbeknownst to those investors (and to FTX’s trading customers), Bankman-Fried was orchestrating a massive, years-long fraud, diverting billions of dollars of the trading platform’s customer funds for his own personal benefit and to help grow his crypto empire.

2. Throughout this period, Bankman-Fried portrayed himself as a responsible leader of the crypto community. He touted the importance of regulation and accountability. He told the public, including investors, that FTX was both innovative and responsible. Customers around the world believed his lies, and sent billions of dollars to FTX, believing their assets were secure on the FTX trading platform. But from the start, Bankman-Fried improperly diverted customer assets to his privately-held crypto hedge fund, Alameda Research LLC (“Alameda”), and then used those customer funds to make undisclosed venture investments, lavish real estate purchases, and large political donations.

3. Bankman-Fried hid all of this from FTX’s equity investors, including U.S. investors, from whom he sought to raise billions of dollars in additional funds. He repeatedly cast FTX as an innovative and conservative trailblazer in the crypto markets. He told investors and prospective investors that FTX had top-notch, sophisticated automated risk measures in place to protect customer assets, that those assets were safe and secure, and that Alameda was just another platform customer with no special privileges. These statements were false and misleading. In truth, Bankman-Fried had exempted Alameda from the risk mitigation measures and had provided Alameda with significant special treatment on the FTX platform, including a virtually unlimited “line of credit” funded by the platform’s customers.

4. While he spent lavishly on office space and condominiums in The Bahamas, and sank billions of dollars of customer funds into speculative venture investments, Bankman-Fried’s house of cards began to crumble. When prices of crypto assets plummeted in May 2022, Alameda’s lenders demanded repayment on billions of dollars of loans. Despite the fact that Alameda had, by this point, already taken billions of dollars of FTX customer assets, it was unable to satisfy its loan obligations. Bankman-Fried directed FTX to divert billions more in customer assets to Alameda to ensure that Alameda maintained its lending relationships, and that money could continue to flow in from lenders and other investors.

5. But Bankman-Fried did not stop there. Even as it was increasingly clear that Alameda and FTX could not make customers whole, Bankman-Fried continued to misappropriate FTX customer funds. Through the summer of 2022, he directed hundreds of millions more in FTX customer funds to Alameda, which he then used for additional venture investments and for “loans” to himself and other FTX executives. All the while, he continued to make misleading statements to investors about FTX’s financial condition and risk management. Even in November 2022, faced with billions of dollars in customer withdrawal demands that FTX could not fulfill, Bankman-Fried misled investors from whom he needed money to plug a multi-billion-dollar hole. His brazen, multi-year scheme finally came to an end when FTX, Alameda, and their tangled web of affiliated entities filed for bankruptcy on November 11, 2022.

The first thing to note in the rap sheet is the date, “From at least May 2019 . . .”, by which the SEC means FTX’s entire existence. It was around May 2019 that SBF bought the FTX.com domain and the first fundraising announcement didn’t drop until August of that year.

Additionally SEC Chair Gary Gensler, warned:

“The alleged fraud committed by Mr. Bankman-Fried is a clarion call to crypto platforms that they need to come into compliance with our laws.”

Grewal said the charges will be filed publicly “tomorrow” on Dec. 14 at the Southern District of New York.

Read the full complaint below:

This post was originally published at Zero Hedge

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Economy

Elon Musk Responds To Biden’s “Pay Your Fair Share” Tax Tweet

“I paid more income tax than anyone ever in the history of Earth”

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Steve Watson

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The world’s richest man Elon Musk has responded to a tweet sent out by Joe Biden calling for higher taxes for billionaires, noting that he’s paid more tax than any human ever in the history of the planet.

Biden sent out the following tweet calling on rich people to “pay your fair share,” along with a claim that the average tax billionaires pay is three percent.

Musk responded, noting that he paid a whopping 53 percent tax on Tesla stock options at both the state and federal level, and that he paid more taxes than any person on Earth in 2021 ($11 billion) and will do so again for the 2022 fiscal year.

Musk also called for a fact check on Biden’s three percent claim.

Musk’s call led to the following correction from the Tax Foundation being added to Biden’s tweet, showing how Biden is either just flat wrong or lying:

Others chimed in on Musk’s comments:

While others had some choice responses for Biden:

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    SVB’s London Bankers Received Up To $36 Million In Bonuses Days After BoE-Orchestrated Bailout

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    Bankers at the London branch of Silicon Valley Bank reportedly received tens of millions of dollars in bonuses just days after the Bank of England orchestrated a rescue package that led to Europe’s largest lender, HSBC, buying the failed bank’s subsidary for just £1Sky News reports.

    Sources described the bonus pool as “modest”, and said it totalled between £15m and £20m.

    It was unclear on Saturday how much had been awarded to Erin Platts, the UK bank’s chief executive or her senior colleagues.

    One insider said the bonus payments were a signal of HSBC’s confidence in the talent base at its new subsidiary and that the buyer had been keen to honour previously agreed payments in order to help retain key staff. –Sky

    What’s more, bonuses were reportedly doled out to US staff just hours before the Santa Clara, California-based bank collapsed. The bank was taken into FDIC ownership, while SVB Financial Group has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as it looks to find buyers for their remaining assets.

    The UK arm of (formerly) SVB employs around 700 people. The London branch’s ‘guided demolition’ was coordinated with UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who played a pivotal role in an emergency auction that drew interest from several challenger banks, including the Bank of London and Oaknorth.

    According to insiders, if HSBC hadn’t stepped up, the bonuses wouldn’t have been paid, while another insider pointed out that stock held by senior executives and other employees had been rendered worthless amid the implosion.

    “The UK’s tech sector is genuinely world-leading and of huge importance to the British economy, supporting hundreds of thousands of jobs,” said chancellor Jeremy Hunt. “We have worked urgently to deliver on that promise and find a solution that will provide SVB UK’s customers with confidence.”

    “[This] ensures customer deposits are protected and can bank as normal, with no taxpayer support.”

    The government had been lobbied intensively last weekend by hundreds of tech entrepreneurs about the parlous state of SVB UK.

    They warned of “an existential threat to the UK tech sector”, adding: “The Bank of England’s assessment that SVB going into administration would have limited impact on the UK economy displays a dangerous lack of understanding of the sector and the role it plays in the wider economy, both today and in the future.”

    The founders warned Mr Hunt that the collapse of SVB UK would “cripple the sector and set the ecosystem back 20 years”. -Sky

    “Many businesses will be sent into involuntary liquidation overnight,” were SVB UK not rescued, wrote the entrepreneurs.

    This post was originally published at Zero Hedge

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    Ted Cruz Blasts Biden For Bailouts Of Corrupt ‘Bonnie And Clyde’ Banks

    “They’re robbing the bank as they know their customers’ deposits are about to get blown up.”

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    Steve Watson

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    Senator Ted Cruz has slammed the Biden Administration for effectively bailing out Silicon Valley Bank, labelling it a ‘corrupt Bonnie and Clyde’ like operation.

    On his “Verdict” podcast, Cruz stated that the failure of SVB has “called into question a lot of the financing for venture capital, and it has potentially imperiled a significant number of mid-sized banks.”

    “In response to this, the Biden administration rolled out a major bailout, conveniently bailing out the politically connected friends of the Biden White House in a way that will have lasting repercussions for the economy, and will almost certainly incentivize future bad conduct by other banks,” Cruz asserted.

    The Senator continued, “They were gambling that the Fed would not raise rates even though they’d been screaming from the mountaintops that they were going to raise rates.”

    “A bank that is being prudent can hedge its investments against interest rates rising by investing also in counterbalancing investments that will go up when interest rates go up. They didn’t do that! They were focused on virtue signaling. They were focused on showing just how woke they are,” Cruz added referring to the revelation that SVB was obsessed with pushing ‘diversity and inclusion’ policies:

    “These bank officers were bad actors,” Cruz continued, adding “Let me let me tell you two data points that have been vastly underreported. Number one, hours before the bank was shut down Silicon Valley Bank gave very substantial bonuses to all of its employees. They just began writing checks to everyone hours before they were shut down. Data point number two: in the two weeks prior to their being shut down, the CEO and the CFO sold large amounts of stock. The CEO ended up making over a $2 million profit from selling stock less than two weeks before the bank was shut down. Both of those indicate corrupt intent.”

    Cruz also noted that he “had a conference call in the last 48 hours with all 100 Senators were invited to participate and Treasury and the FDIC was on there and I asked I said, ‘Look, is it true that they gave bonuses to their employees, number one? If so, I think it is outrageous. And number two, has there been any investigation into clawing back those bonuses?’”

    “As far as I’m concerned, this is like Bonnie and Clyde,” Cruz charged, urging that “They’re robbing the bank as they know their customers’ deposits are about to get blown up. And much of the media coverage has ignored the exceptionally bad conduct by the bank’s officers.”

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