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Law Firm Subpoenas FTX Co-Founder, Top Executives, and Former Alameda CEO Over Voyager Digital Deal

Law Firm Subpoenas FTX Co-Founder, Top Executives, and Former Alameda CEO Over Voyager Digital DealOn Feb. 6, 2023, law firm Kirkland & Ellis issued a subpoena to FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried and top executives on behalf of Voyager Digital. The subpoena requested they produce documents and communications related to the “Alameda Loan Agreement” between Alameda Ventures and Voyager, as well as other important documents. Additionally, Voyager Digital has subpoenaed […]

What is Operation Choke Point 2.0? Trump vows to end it

DOJ-Appointed US Trustee Objects to Subpoena Request in FTX Bankruptcy Case

DOJ-Appointed US Trustee Objects to Subpoena Request in FTX Bankruptcy CaseFollowing a request from FTX lawyers to subpoena FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) and members of his family, the U.S. Trustee appointed by the Department of Justice has filed an opposition to the request. The U.S. Trustee explained that the motion would duplicate the efforts of the federally appointed independent examiner. U.S. Trustee Argues for […]

What is Operation Choke Point 2.0? Trump vows to end it

FTX debtors seek subpoenas for inner circle of Sam Bankman-Fried

FTX and affected parties have requested court subpoenas to force Sam Bankman-Fried’s closest advisors to provide documents and information for ongoing investigations.

A motion filed in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware seeks to glean valuable information from the likes of Gabriel Bankman-Fried and Barbara Fried, the brother and mother of the FTX founder.

According to the filing, FTX and its debtors are pursuing estate assets belonging to the company and investors. However, not all Bankman-Fried’s inner circle has replied with requests for information. The filing indicated that legal representatives of Zhe “Constance” Wang, COO of FTX Trading, and Sam’s father, Joseph Bankman, are the only parties that have agreed to cooperate with information sharing.

After filing for bankruptcy, FTX and its debtors have been working to locate and secure assets to provide some semblance of accountability and preserve the value of stakeholder assets. But, as previously reported by Cointelegraph, FTX’s original management had poor record keeping and security controls, which has exacerbated recovery efforts.

The filing also takes aim at the former FTX CEO, citing public promises to ‘help customers’ and ‘explain what happened’ on social media as lip service given his reluctance to voluntarily assist in bankruptcy proceedings.

“Yet, despite these statements, Mr. Samuel Bankman-Fried has not responded to or complied with the Requests on a voluntary basis. As a result, a court-authorized subpoena is necessary.”

Bankman-Fried is not the only FTX insider that has not obliged requests for cooperation. Former FTX group CTO Gary Wang and Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison declined requests for information, while Barbara Fried had ‘ignored’ requests altogether.

FTX group co-founders Nishad Singh and Gabriel Bankman-Fried, to date had not provided any ‘meaningful engagement’ or response to collaborate with the ongoing bankruptcy proceedings.

The subpoena seeking to glean more information from Bankman-Fried and his advisors is touted to help in recovering ‘substantial additional estate assets’ which were transferred in the lead-up to the collapse of FTX.

The filing also argued that courts routinely order former executives and advisors to produce information in bankruptcy cases and similar action should be taken with the FTX debacle.

As bankruptcy proceedings continue, FTX and affected parties have requested subpoenas for information and documents from close relatives of former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried.

What is Operation Choke Point 2.0? Trump vows to end it

FTX Debtors Seek Dismissal of Turkish Entities in Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Proceedings

FTX Debtors Seek Dismissal of Turkish Entities in Chapter 11 Bankruptcy ProceedingsFTX debtors have filed a motion with the court requesting to dismiss its Turkish subsidiaries from the Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings. The defunct crypto exchange’s lawyers believe dismissing the entities “is in the best interests” of creditors, and FTX debtors do not believe Turkish authorities “or any liquidator” in the country will cooperate with officials […]

What is Operation Choke Point 2.0? Trump vows to end it

FTX Lawyers Attempt to Question Bankman-Fried’s Family and Inner Circle for Financial Insight

FTX Lawyers Attempt to Question Bankman-Fried’s Family and Inner Circle for Financial InsightAccording to court documents in the FTX bankruptcy case, the company’s attorneys seek to subpoena FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried, his brother Gabriel Bankman-Fried, and his parents, Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried. Additionally, the attorneys intend to question some of Bankman-Fried’s top deputies, including FTX co-founder Gary Wang, ex-Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison, the former chief […]

What is Operation Choke Point 2.0? Trump vows to end it

Sam Bankman-Fried misses deadline to respond to testimony request, now what?

The Senate banking committee set a deadline for Sam Bankman-Fried to respond to the request on Dec. 8 at 5pm ET.

Crypto’s public enemy number one, Sam Bankman-Fried has missed a crucial deadline to confirm his appearance at an upcoming Senate Committee hearing.

The former FTX CEO missed a Thursday 5pm ET on Dec. 8, deadline for responding to a Senate Banking Committee request that he testify at the Committee meeting on Dec. 14. This has set up the possibility of a congressional subpoena.

On Dec. 8, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, Sherrod Brown, and ranking member of the Committee Senator Pat Toomey released a statement on the request.

“FTX’s collapse has caused real financial harm to consumers, and effects have spilled over into other parts of the crypto industry. The American people need answers about Sam Bankman-Fried’s misconduct at FTX,” they stated before adding:

“The Committee has requested that he testify at our upcoming hearing on FTX’s collapse, and will consider further action if he does not comply.”

According to the official Committee website, the hearing titled “Crypto Crash: Why the FTX Bubble Burst and the Harm to Consumers” will be webcast on Dec. 14.

So far, two witnesses have been confirmed to attend the hearing — including American University Washington College of Law Professor Hilary J. Allen, and, Actor and Author Ben McKenzie Schenkkan.

Professor Allen is an academic whose research focuses on the impact of new financial technologies on the stability of the financial system. Ben McKenzie is an anti-crypto actor-turned-commentator who played a troubled teenager on a U.S. television series called “The O.C.”

Messari founder Ryan Selkis commented on the futility of the witness selection:

Meanwhile, Cointelegraph has reached out to Ben McKenzie for comment.

Related: Texas enforcers want Sam Bankman-Fried to attend the hearing in February

Other than the Dec. 14 Senate Banking Committee hearing, Bankman-Fried has also been requested to attend a separate hearing called “Investigating the Collapse of FTX” on Dec. 13 with the U.S. House Financial Services Committee.

Bankman-Fried was first requested to attend the hearing via a Twitter post from Congresswoman Maxine Waters, but seemingly declined the invitation on Dec. 5 stating that he wasn’t sure what would happen by the hearing date, “but when it does, I will testify.”

Waters responded on Dec. 8 stating “a subpoena is definitely on the table” should Bankman-Fried fail to voluntarily testify at the hearing.

The collapse of SBF’s FTX empire has initiated a tsunami of backlash from U.S. lawmakers and regulators threatening to drown the fledgling crypto asset industry.

What is Operation Choke Point 2.0? Trump vows to end it

SBF subpoena is ‘definitely on the table,’ says Rep. Maxine Waters

The US lawmaker has refuted a report from CNBC that suggested that they weren't planning to subpoena the former FTX CEO.

The United States House Financial Services Committee Chair Maxine Waters said a subpoena is "definitely on the table" for former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, who has been requested to testify at a Dec. 13 hearing looking into the collapse of FTX.

In a Dec. 8 tweet Waters said that "lies are circulating" after a report from CNBC suggested she doesn’t plan to subpoena Bankman-Fried to testify on Dec. 13. 

The report claimed Waters informed a group of Democrats that she wanted the Committee to convince Bankman-Fried to testify voluntarily.

Related: Crypto community baffled by SBF dictating terms over congressional hearing

Waters had first requested Sam Bankman-Fried to appear at the Dec. 13 hearing on Dec. 3 via a post on Twitter.

Despite appearing in multiple media interviews discussing FTX, Bankman-Fried stated on Dec. 4 that he won’t appear before the Committee until he’s “finished learning and reviewing what happened” and he’s “not sure” if that would happen in time for the hearing.

Citing his media appearances, Waters has previously pushed back at the FTX founders’ excuse, saying on Dec. 5 that the information he holds is “sufficient for testimony.”

"It is imperative that you attend our hearing," Waters added, and said the Committee was "willing to schedule continued hearings if there is more information to be shared later."

This is a developing story and more information will be added as it becomes available.

What is Operation Choke Point 2.0? Trump vows to end it

3AC subpoenas issued as dispute grows over claims of Terraform dump

The bankruptcy judge has given approvals to subpoenas aimed at Three Arrows Capital’s leadership, while a new Terra Luna conspiracy has been floated.

A federal judge overseeing Three Arrows Capital’s (3AC’s) bankruptcy proceedings has signed an order approving subpoenas to be delivered to 3AC’s former leadership, including co-founders Su Zhu and Kyle Davies.

The subpoenas require the founders to give up any “recorded information, including books, documents, records, and papers” in their custody that relates to the firm’s property or financial affairs.

The infamous hedge fund, worth $10 billion at its peak, filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy on Jul. 1 with its troubles tied up in too much leverage and the collapse of Terra Luna (LUNA), known now as Terra Classic (LUNC), and its algorithmic stablecoin formerly known as TerraUSD (UST).

Since then, the liquidators — advisory firm Teneo — have been trying to hunt down the firm’s assets and pin down the 3AC's co-founders.

The latest order allowing for the subpoenas will require recipients to give up any and all account information, seed phrases, and private keys for its digital and fiat assets, details about the securities and unregistered shares, and any accounts held on centralized or decentralized exchanges, along with any other tangible or intangible assets.

The order also labels hedge fund attorney Hannah Terhune, directors Mark Dubois and Cheuk Yao Pau, and Kelly Chen — wife of co-founder Kyle Davies — as “discovery targets”, alongside trading desk company Tai Ping Shan Limited, venture capital firm DeFiance Capital, 3AC-backed NFT fund Starry Night Capital and all of their associates.

Related: Legal team for 3AC liquidators blast founders for shifting blame to FTX, media blitz amid bankruptcy

Any individuals served with the subpoena are required to comply within 14 days unless otherwise agreed with the parties.

At the time of writing there has been no solid information on the whereabouts of either Zhu or Davies, it’s rumored Zhu is residing in Dubai while Davies is residing on the Indonesian island of Bali. Both have been active on social media commenting on developments relating to the collapse of FTX and Alameda research.

Claim: Terraform dumped $450M UST before crash

Meanwhile, self-proclaimed Terra whistleblower FatMan has made new claims on Twitter that it was the actions of Terraform Labs itself that led to the de-pegging of TerraUSD (UST), now TerraClassicUSD (USTC), in May — as opposed to a concerted attack.

That being said, not everyone is convinced about the theory or that the information is new.

In a Dec. 6 Twitter thread FatMan cited “bombshell data” from anonymous researcher Cycle_22 that purportedly discovered two trading wallets which are verified to be owned by Terraform Labs had “dumped” $450 million worth of UST on the open market in the three weeks leading up to the de-peg, explaining:

“TFL has been perpetrating the narrative that UST was ‘attacked.’ This is a false flag.”

“In reality, TFL themselves weakened the Curve pool by irresponsibly dumping a massive amount of UST in a short timeframe. This reduced liquidity and severely weakened the peg," FatMan said.

However, some Twitter users responding to the thread have stated it was “public knowledge” that TFL was withdrawing UST from a Curve liquidity pool (3Pool) in preparation to seed its new stablecoin liquidity pool (4Pool) it was working with Frax Finance at the time.

Others, such as Twitter user RyanLion said it had been “clearly communicated” that the UST swaps into the curve pool were part of moves of swapping UST into other stables to purchase Bitcoin (BTC) for the Luna Foundation Guard reserves.

A June blog from blockchain firm Chainalysis said that while Terraform Labs withdrew millions of UST from 3Pool at the time (approximately 150 million), it was the actions of two traders in the hour following — swapping a total of 185 million UST for USDC and TFL’s response to that, which led to the depeg and resulting panic sell-off.

What is Operation Choke Point 2.0? Trump vows to end it

Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission CVM Subpoenas Mercado Bitcoin on Fixed Income Token Investments

Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission CVM Subpoenas Mercado Bitcoin on Fixed Income Token InvestmentsThe Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) has sent a subpoena to Mercado Bitcoin, one of the biggest exchanges in the country, to inquire about the services the company lends regarding cryptocurrency-related fixed return investments. The company will have to disclose the details of these investments and if they plan to maintain them as available […]

What is Operation Choke Point 2.0? Trump vows to end it