Former FTX CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), who is facing charges from the Justice Department, is reportedly using money gifted to his father to pay his legal fees. The funds were initially borrowed from his trading firm, Alameda Research, and gifted to his father Joseph Bankman, a Stanford Law Professor.
According to Forbes, the loan was at least $10 million, and SBF gifted the funds tax-free using his lifetime estate and gift tax exemption. It’s believed he gifted near the maximum amount someone could gift in their lifetime, which was $11.7 million in 2021. Bankman-Fried is being represented by Christian Everdell and Mark Cohen, along with advice from David W. Mills.
The Bankmans and other fellow professors and friends secured SBF’s $250 million bail deal, with Larry Kramer and Andreas Paepcke each co-signing surety bonds of $500,000 and $200,000, respectively.
Bankman-Fried faces a 13-count indictment from the Department of Justice, including allegations of wire fraud, bank fraud, and bribery of the Chinese government, after customers lost their life savings within the defunct exchange, FTX. Bankman-Fried had previously claimed to have just $100,000 in his bank account after his fortune evaporated within a few days earlier that month.
