The United States Department of Justice has filed a civil forfeiture lawsuit to seize around $16 million in cryptocurrency from a Binance account as part of the ongoing investigation related to Sam Bankman-Fried.
About the US DOJ Case
According to the lawsuit, the funds allegedly stem from Sam Bankman-Fried's attempts to bribe Chinese officials in 2021 to unfreeze about $1 billion worth of Alameda's crypto assets locked in two Chinese exchanges. He reportedly transferred 40 million USDT from an Alameda Research wallet to a private wallet as an initial payment to Chinese officials, which led to the unfreezing of Alameda funds. The recipients allegedly laundered the bribery proceeds through various exchanges and addresses between 2021 and 2023, with some funds ending up in the Binance account, now central to this forfeiture proceeding.
Continued Legal Actions Post-FTX Collapse
The DOJ proceeding is the latest in a series of lawsuits related to the collapse of the FTX exchange. While Sam Bankman-Fried serves a 25-year prison sentence and most former executives have been convicted, creditors continue to wait for their funds as recovery efforts persist. The new administrators of the bankrupt FTX exchange are busy with legal proceedings aimed at clawing back funds allegedly belonging to creditors that former executives mismanaged. Over the past two weeks, the FTX estate has filed more than 30 lawsuits targeting individuals, nonprofits, and other entities that received funding from Sam Bankman-Fried and other FTX executives, such as former White House communications director Anthony Scaramucci and his hedge fund SkyBridge Capital.
Plans for a Movie on Sam Bankman-Fried
Amid ongoing legal proceedings, popular independent studio A24 is working with Apple to produce a movie about Sam Bankman-Fried. The film will be based on Michael Lewis's book 'Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon'.
The US government is making strides in its efforts to recover funds following the collapse of FTX. The attention to Bankman-Fried's case is highlighted both through legal proceedings and cultural projects like the upcoming film by A24.
