Shocking Discovery: FTX Transfers Over $80 Million to a Rural Bank
Investigators make a shocking discovery in Sam Bankman-Fried's bankruptcy filing, as a strange connection between FTX, Alameda Research, stablecoin issuer Tether, and a bank known as Farmington State Bank is being revealed.
$84 million withdrawl
Upon thorough examination of the documentation filed by FTX, investigators allegedly made a shocking discovery. Bankman-Fried himself allegedly withdrew more than $80 million at a remote bank known as Farmington State Bank.
The small bank was established in 1888 and most of its transactions revolved around cattle ranching, the main economic activity in the region.
Farmington State Bank was purchased in 2020 by a company known as FBH. This purchase is of interest because the company’s chairman, Jean Chalopin, also runs Deltec Bank and Trust, a prominent financial institution that houses Tether and Alameda Research. Following the purchase, Jean joined Farmington’s board of directors. This gives him a significant role in the bank, as he is able to participate in important decisions.
The transactions began on March 7, 2022 after Farmington State Bank changed its name to Moonstone. On that date, Alameda Research channeled $11.5 million in deposits to Moonstone, funds that were twice the net worth of the entire bank. More deposits of about $10 million soon followed until the third quarter of 2022, when the bank reported $84 million in incoming transfers. According to the New York Times, $71 million of the total sum came from four new accounts suspected to belong to Alameda Research or Bankman-Fried.
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So far, the $11.5 million deposited into the bank by Alameda Research has not been accounted for by any of the executives involved in the structures. In addition, how Farmington, Deltec, FTX, Alameda Research and Tether are connected is still being determined.
Impact of FTX’s fall from grace
FTX’s collapse and subsequent bankruptcy went down in crypto industry history as the largest crypto scam, which wiped out nearly $32 billion and led to more than 100 companies going bankrupt. As the bankruptcy proceedings continue, the court is uncovering more and more incriminating evidence about FTX’s illegal financial misdeeds.
FTX and its subsidiaries filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on November 11, 2022. Since then, the Sam Bankman-Freid web has continued to unravel.