Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of FTX, has been named in seven class action lawsuits after the bankruptcy of FTX, adding to the long list of litigations filed against him with more expected to come since his crypto empire came crashing down.
These lawsuits stand apart from the innumerable probes and investigations looking into FTX and SBF, including a rumored market manipulation investigation by federal prosecutors and a probable investigation by the Federal Election Commission into his dark monetary contributions to the Republican Party.
December 7: Podalsky and others vs. Sam Bankman-Fried and others
Gregg Podalsky and four other plaintiffs, all former FTX clients, in this class action lawsuit accuse the Golden State Warriors, Bankman-Fried, and numerous other celebrities, as well as FTX executives, of defrauding innocent investors into buying unregistered securities through yield-bearing accounts (YBAs), causing clients to lose billions of dollars.
Shaquille O’Neal, Stephen Curry, Trevor Lawrence, Kevin O’Leary, and Tom Brady are among the other well-known people who are named in the lawsuit. Podalsky is requesting a jury trial in the matter.
December 5: Jessup vs. Sam Bankman-Fried and others
A class action complaint filed by FTX client Michael Elliott Jessup accuses Bankman-Fried, Caroline Ellison, the former Alameda CEO, and other FTX executives of fraud, unjust enrichment (benefiting at the expense of their clients in ways that the law deems unjust), and conversion (converting clients’ property for themselves).
Jessup requested a jury in the case and claims that clients who stored funds on FTX had legal custody of their cryptocurrency assets, and that the defendants moved those assets to Alameda Research without authorization, which is considered conversion in the eyes of the law.
December 2: Hawkins vs. Sam Bankman-Fried and others
Russell Hawkins, a customer of FTX who had funds on the exchange, filed this class-action complaint in California on behalf of all people in a comparable situation, alleging that unfair and deceptive business practices resulted in customers being misled.
Along with SBF and other FTX executives, the defendants include Armanino and Prager Metis, two accounting firms that had approved papers stating that FTX was in sound financial standing.
November 23: Pierce vs. Sam Bankman-Fried and others
In California, FTX client Stephen Pierce filed a class action lawsuit against the same defendants as the Hawkins case, calling SBF one of the great scams of history and claiming that he and his close circle regarded those assets as a fund to spend on their own proprietary investments and a variety of personal vanity projects. Pierce, who asserts that the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO) was broken, has requested a jury.
November 21: Kavuri vs. Sam Bankman-Fried and others
Sunil Kavuri, an FTX client, filed a class-action complaint in Florida that is comparable to Podalsky’s in that the defendants cited include famous people who have allegedly marketed FTX without revealing their compensation or ownership interest. The SEC may also be closely monitoring this matter since, according to Kavuri, FTX promoted unregistered securities that were falsely marketed as securities in order to draw clients and stimulate interest.
November 20: Lam vs. Sam Bankman-Fried
In another lawsuit filed in California, Elliott Lam, a Hong Kong resident, claims SBF, Ellison, and the Golden State Warriors broke the state’s rules against unfair competition and misleading advertising, as well as committed fraudulent concealment and civil conspiracy. Lam asserts that had the public realized the actual nature of FTX and YBAs, they would not have opted to use FTX’s products.
November 15: Garrison vs. Sam Bankman-Fried and others
The class action lawsuit brought by Edwin Garrison in Florida claims that FTX’s YBAs were improperly given securities and once again names the whole list of famous actors and public personalities who are known to have supported or participated in advertising campaigns for the company. Garrison also charges FTX with unfair and dishonest business practices as well.
Once these complaints and the required paperwork were submitted, they were given a docket number and assigned right away to a judge. The judge will next lay out a schedule describing the next steps after serving summonses and complaints on each defendant.