FTX debtors recover $7B, say investigation has been ‘extraordinarily challenging’
CEO John J. Ray noted that it was “extraordinarily challenging” to track the assets
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Debtors have recovered approximately $7 billion in liquid assets from FTX, according to new court documents.
While this still falls short of the roughly $8.7 billion that the exchange owes to its customers, the gap appears to be closing. However, it is unclear whether the $7 billion will go toward the money owed to customers.
“As in the form of fiat currency and stablecoin that had been misappropriated. Despite the ongoing challenges created by the commingling of customer deposits and corporate assets, and other mismanagement of the FTX Group, the Debtors continue to make substantial progress in their ongoing efforts to identify, secure and recover assets for the estate,” a recent filing stated.
According to the court documents, it was “extraordinarily challenging” to track the assets due to the “commingling and misuse of FTX.com customer deposits occurred for several years.”
The debtors in charge of the FTX estate had to differentiate between the operating funds for the FTX Group and FTX.com customer deposits.
The 38-page document details FTX’s spending, including former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried’s political donations. Bankman-Fried and other FTX executives made roughly $100 million in donations.
FTX also spent over $240 million on real estate in the Bahamas. The debtors were able to track transfers between an Alameda account and FTX worth $2.2 billion of commingled funds.
“The FTX Group funded these real estate purchases from accounts that held commingled customer and corporate funds…The FTX Group purchased most of this real estate through a subsidiary, FTX Property Holdings Ltd., which was incorporated in the Bahamas in July 2021,” the document states.
The report is the latest in CEO John J. Ray’s investigation into the company. Back in April, Ray disclosed the inner workings of FTX, revealing that FTX did not properly keep track of employee payrolls.
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