EXCLUSIVE – Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced former FTX CEO faces jail time, drank and dined with senior government regulator at fancy establishment washington d.c.restaurant with his FTX colleagues while pushing for industry-friendly regulations, emails show.
On Oct. Feb. 5, 2021, Bankman-Fried, FTX General Counsel Ryne Miller and then-FTX President Brett Harrison dined at Rasika West End luxury Indian restaurant with Dan Berkovitz, who was at the time commissioner of the US Commodity Futures Trading Commissionone of several agencies that regulate cryptocurrency, according to emails obtained by watchdog Protect the Public’s Trust and shared with the Washington Examiner.
It remains unclear what was discussed at the dinner, which took place as Bankman-Fried lobbied the CFTC to change trading rules that would have given FTX more freedom and power over the crypto world. -cash. The former CEO courted the CFTC to back a proposal that would allow FTX customers to borrow trading money – which some officials Told secretly supported even if some regulators have deplored that it destabilizes the markets.
Sam Bankman-Fried, Founder and Managing Director of FTX Cryptocurrency Derivatives Exchange, speaks during a Senate Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry Committee hearing in Washington, DC, U.S., Wednesday, February 29 . 9, 2022. Top Democrats and Republicans on the committee last month sent a letter to the CFTC calling on the regulator to take a more active role in overseeing cryptocurrencies. Photographer: Sarah Silbiger/Bloomberg via Getty Images
(Getty Pictures)
FTX attorney Miller paid Rasika’s dinner bill and appears to have been later reimbursed to some extent by Berkovitz, according to the emails, which were published as Freedom of Information Act and have not been reported so far.
“Sam Bankman-Fried plans to be in DC this week,” Miller wrote to Berkovitz on Oct. 16. 3. “We have some time for a slot on Tuesday – chances are you’ll be interested in meeting us. I can also offer other time slots if that’s better.”
Later, after agreeing to a meeting at Rasika, Miller noted that other attendees could be Zach Dexter, CEO of the cryptocurrency Ledger X company and former CEO of FTX, former CFTC Commissioner Mark Wetjen, who joined FTX as Head of Policy and Regulatory Strategy, and Michelle Bond, CEO of the Association for Digital Asset Markets. It is not known if these people attended the dinner.
“They’re all nice and chatty. But you can keep it small if you prefer,” Miller wrote.
The average Starter at Rasika, clocks are over $25, and the restaurant offers dinner wine list with bottles ranging from $45 to $450. But Miller, who according to the emails appears to have paid the bill, only asked Berkovitz for $50.
“Commissioner,” Miller wrote to Berkovitz on October 16. 5. “Your dinner bill was $50. For Rasika West. You can send via Paypal to rvm228@nyu.edu.”
“Thank you, Ryne,” Berkovitz replied two days later, on October 16. 7. “I’m taking payment through PayPal now. Let me know if you don’t receive it. Here’s a copy of the item I gave Sam. Have fun!”
“Received and thank you for the article,” Miller said. “I wish you all the best in this new adventure.”
Emails between Ryne Miller and Dan Berkovitz.
It is unclear which article Berkovitz was referring to. A receipt for the alleged PayPal The transaction was also not included in the thread.
“If ever there was a scene to evoke a vision of a rigged DC to corrupt insiders at the expense of the little guy, it would be hard to top this one,” Michael Chamberlain, director of Protect the Public’s Trust, said at the Washington Examiner. “Shortly before its collapse and a series of fraud charges, SBF and its gang were courting one of their would-be regulators, no doubt trying to manipulate regulation to their advantage.”
The emails are another window into Bankman-Fried and FTX’s once cozy relationship with the US government. But that relationship has now been destroyed amid the shocking collapse of the exchange.
Bankman-Fried, who was once worth around $26.5 billion, is accused by the justice department with money laundering and various types of fraud after FTX allegedly diverted billions of dollars in client funds to Alameda Research, a bankrupt cryptocurrency group that Bankman-Fried also founded. He faces up to 115 years in prison.
During trips to DC over the past year, Bankman-Fried has often met with the CFTC, according to reports. The agency has come under fire for allegedly disserving the cryptocurrency industry and taking little action to enforce regulations that could protect investors from a volatile market.
The CFTC of 12 Dec. 13 accused Bankman-Fried, FTX and Alameda caused “the loss of more than $8 billion in FTX customer deposits,” according to a court filing.
Bankman-Fried has sought to gain influence with CFTC officials and other agencies, so that FTX can become “arbiters of the crypto industry”, the Washington Examiner reported based on an October 2021 email exchange between the former FTX CEO and Berkovitz.
CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Apparently, if you speak the right rhetoric and throw millions in the right corners, you too can get a private dinner with the people who write the rules you have to follow, Chamberlain added.
FTX and the CFTC did not respond to requests for comment.
0 Comments