FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried hired a well-known New York lawyer. He doesn’t know if he can pay him.
Sam Bankman-Fried, co-founder of bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has hired New York attorney Mark Cohen to represent him.
The New York lawyer has already been involved in high-profile lawsuits. He was among others the protector of Ghislaine Maxwell, the right-hand man of billionaire Jeffrey Epstein, a billionaire convicted of multiple sex crimes. Maxwell was accused of recruiting underage girls who were bullied by Epstein.
He also successfully defended analyst Peter Black against a Securities and Exchange Commission lawsuit in a 2014 lawsuit.
Suspected founder of FTX
No charges were filed against Bankman-Fried, but the Manhattan federal prosecutor’s office launched an investigation into FTX’s collapse, due in part to an unexplained $8 billion funding shortfall.
The former billionaire is also facing legal action from the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission. Maxine Waters, chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, also wants Bankman-Fried to appear at the December 13 hearing.
billionaire bankruptcy
It is not yet clear how Bankman-Fried plans to pay for representation. Just a few weeks ago, his net worth was over $15 billion, but he said last week that he only has about $100,000 and a credit card.
“First of all, I’m really sorry. I screwed up, I should have done better - Sam Bankman-Fried recently tweeted.
The creator of FTX also repented during a video conference at the DealBook Summit in New York. Bankman-Fried said he was “very sorry about what happened” and “never tried to commit a scam”. He also stated that he was “shocked” by the events of the last month.
Source: Wprost
