Former billionaire entrepreneur and FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison on Thursday after he was found guilty in November of seven counts, including wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud, crimes that cost customers and lenders billions of dollars.
New York Judge Lewis Kaplan slapped Bankman-Fried, also known as SBF, with 25 years after prosecutors said the 32-year-old should face a sentence between 40-50 years, CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/business/live-news/sam-bankman-fried-sentencing-03-28-24/index.html">reported</a>. The judge found that following the collapse of the former billionaire&#8217;s cryptocurrency empire, investors, lenders, and customers lost more than $10 billion.
“He did it because he wanted to be a hugely, hugely political influential person in this country,” Kaplan said, according to <a href="https://nypost.com/2024/03/28/us-news/sam-bankman-fried-faces-decades-in-prison-as-hes-sentenced-today-for-multi-billion-dollar-fraud/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The New York Post</a>, adding, “He knew it was wrong, he knew it was criminal, he regrets that he made a very bad bet about the likelihood of being caught.&#8221;
Judge Kaplan also said in the sentencing hearing that SBF committed witness tampering and perjury during his monthslong trial when he communicated with the former FTX general counsel while in custody and falsely testified that he did not know that FTX&#8217;s sister hedge fund Alameda Research spent his customers&#8217; deposits before the fall of 2022.
SBF&#8217;s lawyers argued that their client should only face six and a half years at most, saying, “His real motivations were misapprehended and misunderstood.&#8221;
&#8220;Really he’s an awkward math nerd&#8230;He loves video games and veganism, and he’s compassionate to animals,&#8221; attorney Marc Mukasey added.
Bankman-Fried addressed the court during the sentencing hearing and apologized, according to CNN.
&#8220;A lot of people feel really let down, and they were very let down, and I am sorry about that,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I am sorry about what happened at every stage. And there are things I should&#8217;ve done and things I shouldn&#8217;t have.&#8221;
&#8220;My useful life is probably over. It&#8217;s been over for a while now,&#8221; the 32-year-old added.
He <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2024/03/28/live-updates-ftx-founder-sam-bankman-fried-sentencing.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">intends</a> to appeal the conviction and sentence.
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Along with becoming a giant in the crypto sphere, Bankman-Fried lobbied and donated millions of dollars to political campaigns and lawmakers. SBF donated nearly $40 million primarily to Democrat nominees and political action committees ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. He was also the second-largest donor to the 2020 Biden presidential campaign and was <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2022-12-29/bankman-fried-met-white-house-aides-in-pre-collapse-crypto-push" target="_blank" rel="noopener">granted</a> four meetings at the White House with senior advisers in the months before his companies filed for bankruptcy.
SBF also <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/2022/11/16/sam-bankman-fried-ftx-pandemic-prevention/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dumped millions</a> of dollars into &#8220;pandemic prevention,&#8221; which included research into the development of new treatments, including for COVID-19. Before his company FTX collapsed, it was <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/ariredbord/2023/02/01/tom-brady-and-other-a-listers-fumble-ftx-endorsements-but-will-they-be-held-liable/?sh=7136bc497d8c" target="_blank" rel="noopener">endorsed</a> by athletes and celebrities such as Tom Brady and his ex-wife Gisele Bündchen, Stephen Curry, Kevin O&#8217;Leary, and Larry David, among others.
Last March, the Justice Department unsealed more <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sam-bankman-fried-charged-for-allegedly-bribing-communist-chinese-officials" target="_blank" rel="noopener">charges</a> for SBF, alleging that he “authorized and directed a bribe of at least $40 million to one or more Chinese government officials.”

Sam Bankman-Fried

Fraudster, Dem Megadonor Sam Bankman-Fried Sentenced To Prison

Courts

Cryptocurrency

Judge

Prison

U.S.

Disgraced crypto mogul <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/sam-bankman-fried" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sam Bankman-Fried</a>, one of the top donors to the Democrat Party, was convicted on all felony counts Thursday evening in federal court in New York City.
The 31-year-old former billionaire, who founded the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, was convicted following a months long investigation after the company collapsed over night.
He was found guilty of wire fraud on customers of FTX, conspiracy to commit wire fraud on customers of FTX, wire fraud on Alameda Research lenders, conspiracy to commit wire fraud on lenders to Alameda Research, conspiracy to commit securities fraud on investors in FTX, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud on customers of FTX, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
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Bankman-Fried, whose crimes cost victims $10 billion, will go down as one of the biggest fraudsters in history after his company stole their money and used it to fund his lavish lifestyle and political donations.
“We respect the jury’s decision. But we are very disappointed with the result,” said Bankman-Fried attorney Mark Cohen. “Mr. Bankman Fried maintains his innocence and will continue to vigorously fight the charges against him.”
The Washington Post <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2023/11/02/sbf-bankman-fried-trial-ftx/">noted</a> that the most damaging testimony against Bankman-Fried came from Bankman-Fried himself after he &#8220;traded the chance to tell his side of the story one final time for a gutting cross examination by prosecutor Danielle Sassoon.&#8221;
Sassoon grilled him over his own past statements that he made in interviews as he tried to save face following his company&#8217;s collapse. He claimed more than 140 times that he could not recall what he previously said.
“This was a pyramid of deceit built by the defendant on a foundation of lies and false promises, all to get money, and eventually it collapsed, leaving countless victims in its wake,” said prosecutor Nicolas Roos. “It’s clear as day the defendant knows that they’re stealing and committing fraud. And that’s exactly what they do.”
This story has been updated to include additional information.

FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried Attends Court

Democrat Megadonor Sam Bankman-Fried Convicted On All Felony Counts, Faces 110+ Years In Prison

Crime

Fraud

Disgraced FTX founder and Democrat mega-donor <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/sam-bankman-fried">Sam Bankman-Fried</a> said that there were “significant oversights” that contributed to the fall of his digital asset exchange during his <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/new-york" target="_blank" rel="noopener">New York</a> trial over alleged financial fraud. 
Bankman-Fried, who was the second largest donor to the 2020 Joe Biden presidential campaign, took to the stand this week to defend himself, saying that the collapse of FTX was not precipitated by malicious actions but by missteps and lack of organization. 
During his testimony, Bankman-Fried <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/10/31/1209498750/sam-bankman-fried-trial-ftx-alameda-testimony-defense" target="_blank" rel="noopener">admitted</a> that he had made &#8220;a number of small mistakes and a number of larger mistakes,” including not having sufficient safeguards in place to guard against risk. 
&#8220;We didn&#8217;t have a chief risk officer,&#8221; Bankman-Fried said. &#8220;We had a number of people who were involved to some extent in managing risk, but no one dedicated to it, and there were significant oversights.&#8221;
Bankman-Fried, who is charged with seven counts of fraud, is accused of stealing billions of dollars from FTX funds for his personal benefit, political donations, and payments to lenders at sister firm Alameda Research. 
While being questioned by prosecutors, Bankman-Fried often <a href="https://finance.yahoo.com/news/sbfs-risky-gamble-to-testify-concludes-as-ftx-trial-nears-end-181843061.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> he didn’t know the answers to their questions or couldn’t remember. He also <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/10/31/1209498750/sam-bankman-fried-trial-ftx-alameda-testimony-defense" target="_blank" rel="noopener">attempted</a> to pin part of the blame for the FTX collapse on ex-girlfriend and former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison, who has said Bankman-Fried directed her to break the law and that he had <a href="https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/crime/sam-bankman-fried-caroline-ellison-bribe-china-100m-unfreeze-crypto-accounts" target="_blank" rel="noopener">bribed China</a> $100 million to unfreeze crypto accounts. 
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During questioning on Tuesday from U.S. Assistant Attorney Danielle Sassoon, Bankman-Fried was asked about a tweet from November 7, 2022, that declared &#8220;FTX is fine. Assets are fine&#8221; and &#8220;FTX has enough to cover all client holdings.&#8221;
Just four days later, FTX would declare bankruptcy, and Bankman-Fried <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/30-year-old-billionaire-loses-entire-fortune-overnight-as-his-bahamas-based-cryptocurrency-empire-implodes" target="_blank" rel="noopener">would apologize</a> to FTX customers, saying that he had “f***ed up.”
Sassoon asked Bankman-Fried about the November 7 post, saying that he had been factoring in money from Alameda&#8217;s holdings to pay back customers. &#8220;I don&#8217;t believe that&#8217;s true,&#8221; Bankman-Fried said.
Bankman-Fried was also asked about his response to discovering that Alameda owed FTX $8 billion. “I don’t know if this is right or wrong or for better or worse, I wasn’t particularly trying to build out blame for it,” he said. 
The jury will start deliberations on Thursday after closing arguments in the case are made on Wednesday.

Sam Bankman-Fried Appears In Court For New Charges Of Bribing Chinese Officials

Sam Bankman-Fried Admits To ‘Significant Oversights’ While Testifying During Crypto Fraud Trial

Big Tech

Joe Biden

New York

This past Sunday, &#8220;60 Minutes&#8221; ran <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ftx-founder-sam-bankman-fried-michael-lewis-book-60-minutes-transcript/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">a feature story</a> on the former cryptocurrency baron <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sam-bankman-fried-upset-after-jail-refuses-to-accommodate-vegan-diet-adhd-meds-report" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sam Bankman-Fried</a> (aka &#8220;SBF&#8221;), founder of the once high-flying crypto exchange FTX. Bankman-Fried goes on trial this week, facing multiple felony charges for various categories of fraud and money laundering. The segment was a revealing look at the inner workings of the man behind perhaps the most sudden collapse of personal wealth in the history of business: from a net worth of $20 billion to zero in a matter of days.
The story was told through an interview with best-selling author Michael Lewis, who by sheer happenstance found himself acting as Bankman-Fried’s de facto biographer and stenographer. Lewis followed the eccentric billionaire from place to place, accumulating over one hundred one-on-one interviews with the man who was once considered a candidate to become the world’s first trillionaire. The result is Lewis’s new book “Going Infinite,” an intimate look  at the inner workings of a mind that was both genius and pathetically immature. 
What the &#8220;60 Minutes&#8221; segment revealed, however, was the inherent political bias so pervasive in the mainstream media machine that even when attempting to tell a story so stand-alone and fascinating as the rise and fall of SBF, they just cannot help themselves.
Reporter John Wertheim devotes a decent chunk of the allotted total story time (which, sans commercials, runs about twenty-five minutes) to Bankman-Fried’s political activities. SBF believed in what is called “effective capitalism.” As Lewis describes, Bankman-Fried believed the USA, acting through the power and reach of its democratic government, was essential towards solving the world’s problems. In the accused felon’s mind, the greatest threat to that government was Donald Trump. &#8220;60 Minutes&#8221; then goes to great lengths to describe how SBF offered tens of millions in donations to Republican superPACs, headed by GOP Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), to bolster the campaigns of those in the party who were either tacitly or actively opposed to Donald Trump’s re-election. 
SBF also allegedly offered to pay Donald Trump money to not run again in 2024. The figure floated in the story is $5 billion, but nothing came of it. And at least &#8220;60 Minutes&#8221; grudgingly concedes there’s no evidence that number came from Trump himself. Still, this apparently warranted mention, as anything that stains Trump, even speculation and non-events, must be front and center in this new age of activist journalism. As this segment of the story wraps up, one reading the implications of the language in the reporting might even conclude that this plan to buy Trump out of the running for re-election didn’t happen solely because FTX blew up before the vaguely speculative deal could be consummated. 
In fact, &#8220;60 Minutes&#8221; devoted three minutes — more than ten percent of the precious allotted airtime — to these GOP-related narratives, concluding with: “Approached for comment by &#8220;60 Minutes&#8221;, neither former President Trump nor Senator McConnell responded.” 
Regardless of political affiliation, isn’t it curious that &#8220;60 Minutes&#8221; would frame the story of Bankman-Fried’s active political involvement in such a way as to make it seem like he was primarily a dedicated donor to the GOP? The real story, of course, is far more bipartisan, if not the opposite even. 
According to Time Magazine, not exactly a right-wing outlet, Bankman-Fried gave $40 million to Democrats. Indeed, he was the party’s second largest check-writer, behind another infamous activist billionaire, George Soros. And yet, for some reason, &#8220;60 Minutes&#8221; devotes just one five-second line of copy to even hinting at his active support of the Democrat Party: “Back in 2020 Bankman-Fried ranked among Joe Biden’s biggest donors.” With that little disclaimer out of the way, we quickly move back on message to the real menace to democracy, Donald Trump. But this seeming footnote is a strategic understatement. According to the Wall Street Journal, Bankman-Fried in fact donated a whopping $5.6 million to the Biden campaign. 
Bankman-Fried now claims to have given an equal amount to Republicans. It&#8217;s very possible SBF gave to both parties equally. And given the revealing psychological profile Lewis paints of this man-child who, it seems, saw himself on a mission to use his once-gargantuan checkbook to save the world, that even makes sense. 
What doesn’t make sense, at least if CBS claims to be “unbiased”, is why &#8220;60 Minutes&#8221; chose to focus almost exclusively on Bankman-Fried’s scheming with GOP leaders while but for one sentence completely ignoring his very deep entanglements with Democrat powerhouse players and institutions. 
Again, according to Time, his D.C. activities included $27 million to Democrat-aligned superPAC Protect Our Future, $7 million more went to two other Democrat superPACs, as well as other personal donations to Democrat Senators Dick Durban (D-IL), Corey Booker (D-NJ), Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), and Maggie Hassan (D-NH). 
Bankman-Fried also gave to Republican Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), John Boozman (R-AR), and Susan Collins (R-ME). So, it seems, he was indeed an equal opportunity donor — especially when Hassan and Boozman co-sponsored a bill to put FTX on the path to regulatory compliance in the U.S..
The broader point, however, as it relates to the tale presented to the viewer is this: viewers who had not done any outside research would have come away from the CBS news magazine feature believing that SBF almost exclusively donated to Mitch McConnell and the GOP.
And that’s really one of the underlying points of the story, beyond telling an interesting and, in my view, overly sympathetic profile of one of history’s greatest swindlers. &#8220;60 Minutes&#8221; felt the need to attach this pariah to the party the media despises, while lying through omission about his intimate relationship with the party for whom they have become nothing more than a propaganda wing.
Media bias can be as subtle as it is pervasive. And, perhaps in the case of &#8220;60 Minutes&#8221;, we’ve stumbled across another example.  What should have been an interesting character study, narrated by a very talented author, was reduced to political water-carrying as an election approaches. The primary take-away is now SBF and the GOP were compadres and the Democrat Party was nowhere to be found. And yet, a more misleading and disingenuous narrative could not have been constructed by Karine Jean-Pierre herself.
If anything, Sam Bankman-Fried was the darling of the political and social Left, as well as its most reliable and enthusiastic benefactor. No matter. McConnell and Trump refused to comment. That their counterparts across the aisle and in the White House never appeared in the story to offer comment, says much about the state of journalism today, at least in the offices of &#8220;60 Minutes&#8221;. Viewer beware.
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/stores/Brad-Schaeffer/author/B07MQJBJSD?ref=ap_rdr&amp;store_ref=ap_rdr&amp;isDramIntegrated=true&amp;shoppingPortalEnabled=true">Brad Schaeffer</a> is a commodities trader, author and columnist who&#8217;s newest book Life In The Pits: My Time As A Trader On The Rough-And-Tumble Exchange Floors will be out in December (soon to be available for pre-sale) 
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Cryptocurrency Exchange FTX’s Former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried Appears In Court Over Multiple Counts Of Federal Fraud Charges

Political Bias On Display In ’60 Minutes’ Segment On SBF

Political Bias On Display In '60 Minutes' Segment On SBF

60 Minutes

Donald Trump

Legacy Media

Media

Media Bias

Readers Pass

Disgraced FTX founder <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/sam-bankman-fried" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sam Bankman-Fried</a> reportedly needs Adderall, vegan-friendly food, and proper computer access to focus on his upcoming trial after he pleaded not guilty to multiple charges stemming from the collapse of his cryptocurrency empire.
Attorneys for Bankman-Fried voiced the complaints during a Manhattan federal court hearing on Tuesday, claiming the Metropolitan Detention Center hasn’t given him medication for his ADHD and the jailed man has only survived on water and bread alone &#8212; sometimes with peanut butter.
“Your Honor, that’s outrageous and needs to be remedied,” Attorney Mark Cohen told a Manhattan federal judge, according to <a href="https://apnews.com/article/sam-bankman-fried-court-hearing-df2304a4f8eefbebfe0e7bac12354b3b" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Associated Press</a>.
Cohen said his client was “being denied medication to focus” for his upcoming trial on October 3.
Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/08/22/sbf-isnt-getting-his-adhd-meds-vegan-meals-in-jail-lawyer/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly</a> said she would look into accommodating Bankman-Fried’s dietary restrictions and medical needs at the detention center.
“I’m reasonably confident they provide vegetarian options,” Netburn said. “A vegan diet may not be available, but I assume a vegetarian is.”
Attorney Christian Everdell reportedly told the judge, in addition to Bankman-Fried’s living conditions, that his client was also being denied the right “to effectively prepare for his defense” with getting only two days per week to review millions of pages of evidence.
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Bankman-Fried’s FTX digital asset exchange collapsed earlier this year and filed for bankruptcy after users learned that the company was intertwined with sister firm Alameda Research. Both were controlled by Bankman-Fried and other young business leaders working from a luxury penthouse in the Bahamas.
He pleaded not guilty in January to eight charges, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He was hit with four additional charges the next month, including conspiracy to commit bank fraud and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transfer business.
The fallen crypto prodigy was also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sbf-accused-of-funneling-over-100-million-toward-wide-ranging-political-influence-operation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">accused</a> last week of using over a hundred million stolen dollars to conduct “a wide-ranging political influence operation,” according to a court filing from federal prosecutors.
Bankman-Fried donated nearly $40 million primarily to Democratic nominees and political action committees before the 2022 midterm elections. He was also the second-largest donor to the 2020 Biden presidential campaign and was granted four meetings at the White House with senior advisers in the months before his companies filed for bankruptcy.
The new court filing comes after Bankman-Fried was jailed earlier this month after a judge revoked his bail for allegedly tampering with witnesses on at least two occasions. He had been living with his parents after being placed under house arrest, but prosecutors said that he jeopardized his upcoming trial by leaking writings and love letters from his ex-girlfriend Caroline Ellison to a New York Times reporter.
Leif Le Mahieu and Zach Jewell contributed to this report.

Sam Bankman-Fried Upset After Jail Refuses To Accommodate Vegan Diet, ADHD Meds: Report

New York City

Disgraced FTX founder <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/sam-bankman-fried" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sam Bankman-Fried</a> has been accused of using over a hundred million stolen dollars to conduct “a wide-ranging political influence operation,” according to a court filing from federal prosecutors on Monday. 
FTX, a digital asset exchange, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sam-bankman-fried-visited-biden-white-house-four-times-ahead-of-his-arrest" target="_blank" rel="noopener">collapsed earlier this year</a> and filed for bankruptcy after users learned that the company was intertwined with sister firm Alameda Research. Both were controlled by Bankman-Fried and other young business leaders working from a luxury penthouse in the Bahamas. 
&#8220;Exploiting the trust of FTX customers, BANKMAN-FRIED misappropriated and embezzled FTX customer deposits, and used billions of dollars in stolen funds for a variety of purposes, including, among other things, to enrich himself; to support the operations of FTX; to fund speculative venture investments; to help fund over a hundred million dollars in campaign contributions to Democrats and Republicans to seek to influence cryptocurrency regulation; and to pay for Alameda&#8217;s operating costs,” a <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.590940/gov.uscourts.nysd.590940.202.0.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">superseding indictment</a> filed by the Department of Justice said. 
Bankman-Fried <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sbf-jailed-after-judge-revokes-bail-for-allegedly-tampering-with-witnesses-leaking-exs-love-letters" target="_blank" rel="noopener">donated nearly</a> $40 million primarily to Democratic nominees and political action committees ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. He was also the second-largest donor to the 2020 Biden presidential campaign and was granted four meetings at the White House with senior advisers in the months before his companies filed for bankruptcy.
In the new filing, the DOJ accuses Bankman-Fried of conspiring with others to make false and fraudulent statements to FTX investors and Alameda’s lenders. He faces charges of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
The DOJ <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rapid-reaction-major-dem-donor-let-off-the-hook-for-alleged-campaign-finance-fraud" target="_blank" rel="noopener">decided</a> to not to put forth campaign finance charges against Bankman-Fried after the DOJ learned that the U.S. hadn’t obtained permission from the Bahamas to extradite Bankman-Fried on that charge.
According to the superseding indictment, Bankman-Fried also used customer funds for “exorbitant spending” that had nothing to do with the operation of FTX. This spending allegedly included his personal expenses, real estate in the Bahamas, “speculative venture investments,” political spending, and payments to Alameda’s lenders. 
Federal prosecutors said that he used FTX customer funds to “make billions of dollars of investments for his own interests and the interests of his businesses.”
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The new court filing comes after Bankman-Fried was jailed Friday after a judge revoked his bail for allegedly tampering with witnesses on at least two occasions. He had been living with his parents after being placed under house arrest, but prosecutors said that he jeopardized his upcoming trial by leaking writings and love letters from his ex-girlfriend Caroline Ellison to a New York Times reporter.
Zach Jewell contributed to this report.

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried Attends Hearing To Determine Bail Revocation

SBF Accused Of Funneling Over $100 Million Toward ‘Wide-Ranging Political Influence Operation’

Democrats

Department of Justice

Disgraced FTX founder <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sam-bankman-frieds-ftx-collapsed-over-hubris-incompetence-and-greed-bankruptcy-lawyer-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sam Bankman-Fried</a> was jailed Friday after a judge revoked his bail for allegedly tampering with witnesses on at least two occasions. 
Bankman-Fried, who had been living with his parents after being placed under house arrest, jeopardized his upcoming trial by leaking writings and love letters from his ex-girlfriend Caroline Ellison to a New York Times reporter, according to prosecutors. U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan agreed with the prosecutors and said there was probable cause to believe the crypto founder tried to “tamper with witnesses” at least twice since his arrest in December, The New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/08/11/ftxs-sam-bankman-fried-seeks-to-avoid-jail-before-trial/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. 
The FTX founder’s defense attorney Mark Cohen said he will appeal the decision and asked for an immediate stay pending the appeal&#8217;s result, but the request was rejected by Judge Kaplan. Bankman-Fried’s defense team argued that prosecutors are using “innuendo, speculation, and scant facts” to push for Bankman-Fried’s jailing. The former billionaire will be held at the Manhattan Detention Complex until his trial begins on October 2. 
Ellison, who pleaded guilty to fraud for her role in the crypto empire, is expected to be a witness in Bankman-Fried’s upcoming trial. Bankman-Fried’s former girlfriend ran Alameda Research, a crypto hedge fund started by the disgraced FTX founder to which he loaned half of FTX customer’s funds in a move prohibited by the company’s terms of service. In a report last month, The New York Times <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/20/technology/ftx-caroline-ellison-bankman-fried.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">published</a> some of Ellison’s private writings where she revealed she was “feeling pretty unhappy and overwhelmed with [her] job” and expressed frustrations with her on-and-off relationship with Bankman-Fried. 
Bankman-Fried <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sam-bankman-fried-pleads-not-guilty-allowed-to-conceal-who-is-securing-his-250-million-bond" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pleaded</a> not guilty in January to eight charges, which include conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He was hit with four additional <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-charges-against-disgraced-ftx-ceo-sam-bankman-fried-revealed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">charges</a> the next month, including conspiracy to commit bank fraud and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transfer business. 
The indictment unsealed in February said that some of Bankman-Fried’s political contributions were “made in the names of others in order to obscure the true source of the money and evade federal election law.” Bankman-Fried donated nearly $40 million primarily to Democrat nominees and political action committees ahead of the 2022 midterm elections. He was also the second-largest donor to the 2020 Biden presidential campaign and was granted four meetings at the White House with senior advisers in the months before his companies filed for bankruptcy.
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In March, the Justice Department <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sam-bankman-fried-charged-for-allegedly-bribing-communist-chinese-officials" target="_blank" rel="noopener">charged</a> the entrepreneur for allegedly bribing members of the Chinese Communist Party with millions of dollars. According to the DOJ indictment, Bankman-Fried “authorized and directed a bribe of at least $40 million to one or more Chinese government officials.”

SBF Jailed After Judge Revokes Bail For Allegedly Tampering With Witnesses, Leaking Ex’s Love Letters

SBF Jailed After Judge Revokes Bail For Allegedly Tampering With Witnesses, Leaking Ex's Love Letters

Court

Jail

Binance, the world’s largest <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/cryptocurrency" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cryptocurrency</a> exchange platform, allegedly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/fraud" target="_blank" rel="noopener">commingled</a> user deposits and firm revenue in <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/crime" target="_blank" rel="noopener">violation</a> of financial laws, according to a special <a href="https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/crypto-binance-money/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from Reuters.
The allegations from three former insiders come months after FTX and several other cryptocurrency firms controlled by <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/sam-bankman-fried" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sam Bankman-Fried</a> filed for bankruptcy as customers and investors learned that FTX had commingled funds with sister trading company Alameda Research. Binance, a rival of FTX that had feuded with the company in the weeks before the implosion, allegedly commingled funds on a nearly daily basis in 2020 and 2021, according to three unnamed sources familiar with the matter.
Reuters found one record from Silvergate Bank, a recently defunct financial services company focused on the cryptocurrency sector, indicating that Binance mixed $20 million from a corporate account with $15 million from an account that received customer funds. Binance reportedly funneled revenues into Silvergate Bank through a holding firm in the Cayman Islands, while customer funds entered the financial institution through a separate firm in the Seychelles.
Binance denied the claims about commingled funds in a statement to Reuters. “These accounts were not used to accept user deposits; they were used to facilitate user purchases,” Binance spokesperson Brad Jaffe told the outlet. “There was no commingling at any time because these are 100% corporate funds.”
The allegations come two months after officials at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission filed civil enforcement <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/regulators-move-against-worlds-largest-crypto-exchange-for-disregard-of-financial-laws" target="_blank" rel="noopener">actions</a> against Binance chief executive Changpeng Zhao for “numerous violations” of financial laws. The regulatory agency alleged that Zhao directed employees and customers to circumvent regulations, failed to require identity verification, and neglected other compliance efforts meant to prevent terrorist financing and money laundering.
Binance, which was previously based in China, has also been investigated by the Justice Department for alleged money laundering and tax infractions.
Actions against the company occur amid a broader <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/paternalistic-and-lazy-regulators-unleash-flurry-of-actions-against-crypto-companies-but-not-all-of-them-are-on-board" target="_blank" rel="noopener">crackdown</a> in the nascent cryptocurrency sector from lawmakers and regulators: Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler recently <a href="https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2023-25" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> a settlement with cryptocurrency exchange Kraken after the firm failed to register its staking-as-a-service initiative, under which retail investors are compensated for holding certain digital assets, and <a href="https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2023-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">charged</a> Genesis Global Capital and Gemini Trust Company for raising billions of dollars in cryptocurrency assets through an unregistered offer.
The financial misconduct at FTX allegedly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/how-sam-bankman-fried-weaponized-wokeness-to-dupe-progressive-investors" target="_blank" rel="noopener">enabled</a> Bankman-Fried and his fellow inexperienced executives to purchase lavish tropical real estate in the Bahamas, contribute extensively to Democratic political candidates, and make donations to media outlets.
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Bankman-Fried was initially <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sam-bankman-fried-pleads-not-guilty-allowed-to-conceal-who-is-securing-his-250-million-bond" target="_blank" rel="noopener">charged</a> in December with crimes such as conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and conspiracy to defraud the Federal Election Commission through campaign finance violations. Another superseding <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-charges-against-disgraced-ftx-ceo-sam-bankman-fried-revealed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">indictment</a> unveiled in February added four new charges, including conspiracy to commit bank fraud and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transfer business. Bankman-Fried was also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sam-bankman-fried-charged-for-allegedly-bribing-communist-chinese-officials" target="_blank" rel="noopener">charged</a> in March with paying bribes to one or more members of the Chinese Communist Party.
The entrepreneur has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sam-bankman-fried-tries-to-get-most-of-the-charges-against-him-dismissed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pleaded</a> not guilty and is attempting to dismiss 10 of the 13 charges.
John Ray III, a bankruptcy lawyer appointed to recover lost funds on behalf of FTX customers and investors, has repeatedly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sam-bankman-frieds-ftx-collapsed-over-hubris-incompetence-and-greed-bankruptcy-lawyer-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">contended</a> that the firm imploded as a result of mismanagement from senior executives. “These individuals stifled dissent, commingled and misused corporate and customer funds, lied to third parties about their business, joked internally about their tendency to lose track of millions of dollars in assets, and thereby caused the FTX Group to collapse as swiftly as it had grown,” he wrote in a <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ftx-debtors-release-report-on-ftx-groups-control-failures-301792891.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> about the company’s failure.

Changpeng Zhao

Another Top Crypto Firm Commingled Funds Like Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX Did, Former Insiders Allege

Another Crypto Firm Commingled Funds Like Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX: Report

Attorneys who represent former FTX CEO <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/sam-bankman-fried" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sam Bankman-Fried</a> are attempting to dismiss 10 of the 13 charges filed against the disgraced <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/cryptocurrency" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cryptocurrency</a> entrepreneur.
Several firms controlled by Bankman-Fried imploded at the end of last year after customers and investors learned that FTX had improperly commingled funds with sister trading company Alameda Research. Lawyers for Bankman-Fried asserted in a Monday court <a href="https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.nysd.590940/gov.uscourts.nysd.590940.139.0.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">filing</a> that the original indictment levied against the entrepreneur came from a “classic rush to judgment” and that the case involved “civil and regulatory issues” rather than federal crimes.
“Rather than wait for traditional civil and regulatory processes following their ordinary course to address the situation, the government jumped in with both feet,” the filing asserted. “Each of the charges contained boilerplate recitals of statutory language, followed by literally one sentence purportedly describing the basis for the charge.”
Bankman-Fried was detained in the Bahamas and extradited to the United States in December, nearly one month after FTX collapsed and bankruptcy procedures were initiated. Attorneys contended that officials violated the extradition treaty between the two nations since the Bahamian government issued a warrant of surrender “specifying that he be tried on seven of the eight counts” in the original indictment, even as American officials later brought additional charges without the consent of authorities in the island nation.
Bankman-Fried was initially <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sam-bankman-fried-pleads-not-guilty-allowed-to-conceal-who-is-securing-his-250-million-bond" target="_blank" rel="noopener">charged</a> in December with crimes such as conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and conspiracy to defraud the Federal Election Commission through campaign finance violations. Another superseding <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-charges-against-disgraced-ftx-ceo-sam-bankman-fried-revealed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">indictment</a> unveiled in February added four new charges, including conspiracy to commit bank fraud and conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transfer business. Bankman-Fried was also <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sam-bankman-fried-charged-for-allegedly-bribing-communist-chinese-officials" target="_blank" rel="noopener">charged</a> in March with paying bribes to one or more members of the Chinese Communist Party.
Bankman-Fried faces the charges in the Southern District of New York, which often oversees high-profile financial fraud cases. The entrepreneur, who has pleaded not guilty to all charges and currently resides with his parents in northern California, is expected to appear for trial in early October.
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Lawyers for the entrepreneur meanwhile claimed that the collapse of FTX occurred in the context of broader difficulties in the cryptocurrency sector. “As with a traditional bank run, numerous customers simultaneously sought to withdraw their assets, thus feeding fears that a collapse was inevitable,” the court filing said. “The market crash took down many of the major players in this sector, not just FTX.”
Current FTX CEO John Ray III, a bankruptcy lawyer appointed to recover lost funds on behalf of customers and investors, nevertheless <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sam-bankman-frieds-ftx-collapsed-over-hubris-incompetence-and-greed-bankruptcy-lawyer-says" target="_blank" rel="noopener">contended</a> that the firm imploded as a result of mismanagement from senior executives, who reportedly discharged more than $5 billion on imprudent business investments, including advertisements with celebrities such as quarterback Tom Brady and investor Kevin O’Leary.
“Despite the public image it sought to create of a responsible business, the FTX Group was tightly controlled by a small group of individuals who showed little interest in instituting an appropriate oversight or control framework,” the attorney wrote. “These individuals stifled dissent, commingled and misused corporate and customer funds, lied to third parties about their business, joked internally about their tendency to lose track of millions of dollars in assets, and thereby caused the FTX Group to collapse as swiftly as it had grown.”

Sam Bankman-Fried Tries To Get Most Of The Charges Against Him Dismissed

Lawyers For Sam Bankman-Fried Tries To Dismiss Most Of The Charges Against Him

Lawsuit

FTX, the bankrupt <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/cryptocurrency?_gl=1*bmnwjv*_ga*NzUzNDA5ODIxLjE2NzkzMjkzNzM.*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTY4MTE1MTI2Ni44MC4xLjE2ODExNTM4MDIuNTIuMC4w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cryptocurrency</a> exchange formerly led by <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/sam-bankman-fried?_gl=1*bmnwjv*_ga*NzUzNDA5ODIxLjE2NzkzMjkzNzM.*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*MTY4MTE1MTI2Ni44MC4xLjE2ODExNTM4MDIuNTIuMC4w" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sam Bankman-Fried</a>, collapsed as a result of <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/business" target="_blank" rel="noopener">mismanagement</a> from senior executives, according to an interim <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ftx-debtors-release-report-on-ftx-groups-control-failures-301792891.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> from attorneys charged with managing the bankruptcy.
Several companies controlled by Bankman-Fried imploded at the end of last year after customers and investors learned that FTX had improperly commingled funds with sister trading company Alameda Research. John Ray III, who was appointed as chief executive of FTX in order to recover lost funds and reimburse investors, told the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware that “hubris, incompetence, and greed” from executives with minimal experience or qualified oversight caused the collapse.
“Despite the public image it sought to create of a responsible business, the FTX Group was tightly controlled by a small group of individuals who showed little interest in instituting an appropriate oversight or control framework,” the attorney wrote. “These individuals stifled dissent, commingled and misused corporate and customer funds, lied to third parties about their business, joked internally about their tendency to lose track of millions of dollars in assets, and thereby caused the FTX Group to collapse as swiftly as it had grown.”
Lawyers have examined more than one million documents and continue to review financial records from the imploded company, which was headquartered in the Bahamas. Control failures at the firm “created an environment in which a handful of employees had, among them, virtually limitless power to direct transfers of fiat currency and crypto assets and to hire and fire employees” without any “effective oversight” to control the execution of their powers.
Ray, who previously managed the collapse of fraudulent energy company Enron, testified before members of the House Financial Services Committee last year that FTX marked the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/lawyer-overseeing-ftx-fallout-never-in-my-career-have-i-seen-such-a-complete-failure" target="_blank" rel="noopener">worst failure</a> of corporate controls he had witnessed in his entire career. He contended that FTX executives, most of whom were in their mid-to-late twenties, had embarked on a “spending binge” and discharged more than $5 billion on imprudent business investments, including advertisements with celebrities such as quarterback Tom Brady and investor Kevin O’Leary.
Bankman-Fried <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/new-charges-against-disgraced-ftx-ceo-sam-bankman-fried-revealed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pleaded</a> not guilty to a number of charges such as conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and conspiracy to commit bank fraud. Officials in the Bahamas <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/criminal-charges-against-sam-bankman-fried-revealed" target="_blank" rel="noopener">arrested</a> the former multibillionaire and sent him to face charges in the Southern District of New York, which often oversees high-profile financial fraud cases.
Beyond using the customer funds to enrich himself, acquire luxury real estate in the Bahamas, and influence the political system through contributions to Democratic entities, Bankman-Fried <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/left-of-center-media-accepted-millions-from-democrat-donor-and-disgraced-crypto-wunderkind-sam-bankman-fried" target="_blank" rel="noopener">donated</a> millions to various media outlets through a nonprofit organization called Building a Stronger Future, which he ran with the help of his brother, Gabe Bankman-Fried, a former Democratic congressional staffer and the director of Guarding Against Pandemics.
Bankman-Fried is currently staying at his parents’ home in northern California. Mark Cohen, a lawyer for Bankman-Fried who previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sam-bankman-fried-hires-attorney-who-defended-epstein-confidant-ghislaine-maxwell" target="_blank" rel="noopener">defended</a> Jeffrey Epstein confidant Ghislaine Maxwell, initially succeeded in requesting that the identities of two unknown individuals who secured his $250 million bond remain sealed. Two months ago, however, court documents <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/court-reveals-identities-of-the-people-who-secured-sam-bankman-frieds-250-million-bond" target="_blank" rel="noopener">showed</a> that Larry Kramer, the dean emeritus of Stanford Law School and president of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and Andreas Paepcke, a senior research scientist at Stanford University, were the two individuals who secured the bond.

Crypto Exchange FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried Portraits

Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX Collapsed Over ‘Hubris, Incompetence, And Greed,’ Bankruptcy Lawyer Says

Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX Collapsed Over 'Hubris' And 'Greed,' Bankruptcy Lawyer Says

Business

Officials at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, also known as the CFTC, filed a civil enforcement <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/lawsuit" target="_blank" rel="noopener">action</a> against Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao and three entities with the company for “numerous violations” of the law.
Three business units within Binance, the largest <a href="http://dailywire.com/topic/cryptocurrency" target="_blank" rel="noopener">cryptocurrency</a> exchange in the world, allegedly chose to “knowingly disregard” portions of the Commodity Exchange Act while “engaging in a calculated strategy of regulatory arbitrage to their commercial benefit,” according to a <a href="https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/8680-23" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a> from the agency. Zhao allegedly directed employees and customers to circumvent regulations, failed to require any identity verification, and neglected other compliance efforts meant to prevent terrorist financing and money laundering.
“Today’s enforcement action demonstrates that there is no location, or claimed lack of location, that will prevent the CFTC from protecting American investors. I have been clear that the CFTC will continue to use all of its authority to find and stop misconduct in the volatile and risky digital asset market,” CFTC Chairman Rostin Behnam remarked. “For years, Binance knew they were violating CFTC rules, working actively to both keep the money flowing and avoid compliance. This should be a warning to anyone in the digital asset world that the CFTC will not tolerate willful avoidance of United States law.”
Binance allegedly advised top clients on how to avoid its own compliance measures, while employees used a communications platform that automatically deleted messages to tell customers about control evasions. Zhao is liable for the company’s violations because of his “long-running failure to act in good faith” in response to the misconduct; former Binance Chief Compliance Officer Samuel Lim was also charged with “willfully aiding and abetting” the violations, such as by encouraging the use of “creative means” to help clients avoid controls.
“The defendants’ own emails and chats reflect that Binance’s compliance efforts have been a sham and Binance deliberately chose over and over to place profits over following the law,” CFTC Enforcement Division Principal Deputy Director and Chief Counsel Gretchen Lowe added. “Today’s enforcement action reflects that the CFTC and its Enforcement Division will pursue those digital asset platforms and individuals who flout and actively attempt to circumvent CFTC regulatory requirements.”
The actions against Binance, which was previously based in China and has been investigated by the Justice Department for alleged money laundering and tax infractions, occur amid a broader <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/paternalistic-and-lazy-regulators-unleash-flurry-of-actions-against-crypto-companies-but-not-all-of-them-are-on-board" target="_blank" rel="noopener">crackdown</a> in the cryptocurrency sector from lawmakers and regulators. Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Gary Gensler recently <a href="https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2023-25" target="_blank" rel="noopener">announced</a> a $30 million settlement with cryptocurrency exchange Kraken after the firm failed to register its staking-as-a-service initiative, under which retail investors are compensated for holding certain digital assets. Gensler also <a href="https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2023-7" target="_blank" rel="noopener">charged</a> Genesis Global Capital and Gemini Trust Company for raising billions of dollars in cryptocurrency assets through an unregistered offer.
Increased scrutiny toward companies that deal in cryptocurrencies, which are virtual units of exchange that are not managed by central banks, comes after FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried commingled funds with the exchange platform and sister trading firm Alameda Research. Bankman-Fried, who was a prominent contributor to Democratic campaigns, has been <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/sam-bankman-fried-pleads-not-guilty-allowed-to-conceal-who-is-securing-his-250-million-bond" target="_blank" rel="noopener">charged</a> with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and conspiracy to defraud the Federal Election Commission through campaign finance violations.

Web Summit 2022 – Day One

Regulators Move Against World’s Largest Crypto Exchange For ‘Disregard’ Of Financial Laws

Regulators Move Against Binance For 'Disregard' Of Financial Laws

Former Disney star <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/lindsay-lohan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lindsay Lohan</a> and YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul are two celebrities among several others that face federal charges for illegally touting crypto asset securities from a digital currency entrepreneur.
The Securities and Exchange Commission announced <a href="https://www.sec.gov/news/press-release/2023-59">charges</a> Wednesday against crypto asset entrepreneur Justin Sun and three of his companies — Tron Foundation Limited, BitTorrent Foundation Ltd., and Rainberry Inc. (formerly BitTorrent) — for the unregistered offer and sale of crypto asset securities Tronix (TRX) and BitTorrent (BTT).
The commission accused Sun and his companies of &#8220;orchestrating a scheme to pay celebrities to tout TRX and BTT without disclosing their compensation,&#8221; which included Lohan, Paul, and DeAndre Cortez Way, otherwise known as American rapper Soulja Boy.
Authorities also named musicians Austin Mahone, Miles Parks McCollum (Lil Yachty), Shaffer Smith (Ne-Yo), Aliaune Thiam (Akon), and adult actress Michele Mason (Kendra Lust) in the complaint.
According to the complaint, unregistered offers and sales violate Section 5 of the Securities Act, which requires all issuers to register non-exempt securities with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
SEC Chair Gary Gensler said in a news release that such charges demonstrate the high risk investors face when crypto asset securities are offered and sold without proper disclosure.
&#8220;Sun and his companies not only targeted U.S. investors in their unregistered offers and sales, generating millions in illegal proceeds at the expense of investors, but they also coordinated wash trading on an unregistered trading platform to create the misleading appearance of active trading in TRX,&#8221; Gensler said. &#8220;Sun further induced investors to purchase TRX and BTT by orchestrating a promotional campaign in which he and his celebrity promoters hid the fact that the celebrities were paid for their tweets.&#8221;
According to the complainant, the celebrities fraudulently manipulated the crypto market for Sun&#8217;s companies by extensive wash trading, which allegedly involved purchasing and selling securities &#8220;to make it appear actively traded without an actual change in beneficial ownership.&#8221;
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&#8220;While we&#8217;re neutral about the technologies at issue, we&#8217;re anything but neutral when it comes to investor protection,&#8221; Gurbir S. Grewal, Director of the SEC&#8217;s Division of Enforcement, said.
Grewal called Sun&#8217;s move an &#8220;age-old playbook&#8221; intended to mislead and harm investors, which offers securities without registration and disclosure compliance before manipulating the market for such securities.
&#8220;Sun paid celebrities with millions of social media followers to tout the unregistered offerings, while specifically directing that they not disclose their compensation,&#8221; he said. &#8220;This is the very conduct that the federal securities laws were designed to protect against regardless of the labels Sun and others used.&#8221;
Aside from Soulja Boy and singer Austin Mahone, the celebrities accused of touting Sun&#8217;s crypto scheme have agreed to pay more than $400,000 in interest and penalties to settle the charges. However, the accused has neither admitted nor denied the allegations.
Andrew Brettler, a lawyer for Lohan, told <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/sec-sues-justin-sun-others-over-illegal-crypto-sales-2023-03-22/">Reuters</a> the actress was unaware of the disclosure requirements until last March.
&#8220;From the outset, she cooperated with the SEC&#8217;s investigation and ultimately agreed to disgorge the small amount of money she received and paid a fine to resolve this matter,&#8221; her attorney Andrew Brettler said in an emailed statement to the outlet.
Lawyers for Sun and the others named in the complaint either could not be identified, declined to comment, or did not respond immediately to requests for comment.

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