$465 Million of Robinhood Shares Linked to FTX's Sam Bankman-Fried Are in Question — What Now? Bankman-Fried and FTX co-founder Gary Wang borrowed more than half a billion dollars to purchase a nearly 7.6% stake in the stock-trading app.
By Amanda Breen •
The saga of Sam Bankman-Fried's collapsed FTX currency exchange continues.
U.S. prosecutors are in the process of seizing 56 million Robinhood shares linked to Bankman-Fried, U.S. attorney Sam Shapiro informed a judge overseeing the FTX bankruptcy on Wednesday, per Reuters.
The Department of Justice claimed the shares, worth approximately $465 million, weren't the property of a bankruptcy estate. According to Shapiro, opposing claims to the shares could be dealt with via a forfeiture proceeding.
Bankman-Fried and FTX co-founder Gary Wang borrowed more than $546 million from hedge fund Alameda Research to purchase a nearly 7.6% stake in Robinhood, CNN reported.
Along with Bankman-Fried, bankrupt crypto firm BlockFi, FTX and liquidators in Antigua have all claimed ownership of the stock-trading app's shares.
Additionally, Shapiro said that prosecutors had seized U.S. bank accounts tied to FTX's Bahamas-based business FTX Digital Markets, and court records reveal that accounts at Silvergate Bank and Farmington State Bank held roughly $143 million.
But an attorney for FTX said that none of the assets in question are directly controlled by any FTX entities at this time.
Related: Martin Shkreli Offers Prison Tips to Sam Bankman-Fried
Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty to counts of wire fraud and conspiracy, though he admitted to risk-management failures at FTX.
