FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried met with the prime minister of the Bahamas to discuss paying off the nation’s entire $10 billion debt, according to a new biography.
The disgraced crypto protégé held talks with Philip Davis about how to improve the island’s infrastructure as he hoped to set up offices and move his employees to the Caribbean island, according to author Michael Lewis.
He decided he wanted to move about 40 employees out of FTX’s Hong Kong office in response to the Chinese government’s crackdown on cryptocurrencies, Lewis writes in Going Infinite: The Rise and Fall of a New Tycoon.
“The good thing about the Bahamas, from Sam’s point of view, was that it had created regulations, which the United States did not have, to legitimize a crypto futures exchange,” Lewis wrote in a published by The Sunday times.
Bankman-Fried, 31, is currently on trial in a Manhattan court for embezzling from FTX clients to support his hedge fund Alameda Research, buy luxury properties and donate more than $100 million to US political candidates.
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried met with Bahamas Prime Minister Philip Davis to discuss paying down the country’s debt
After he was elected, SBF was the first person to meet Prime Minister Philip Davis (pictured) of the Bahamas
Prime Minister Philip Davis (center) of the Bahamas and Sam Bankman-Fried (third from right) are photographed at the groundbreaking of the FTX headquarters
The Bahamian economy suffered from the coronavirus pandemic and lacked the infrastructure Bankman-Fried needed to build his cryptocurrency empire.
Bankman-Fried built a nearly $300 million real estate portfolio in the Bahamas, including a $16.4 million vacation home for his parents and a $30 million luxury penthouse for himself and colleagues.
According to Lewis, FTX’s founder tried to entice 40 employees, many of whom had grown up in China, to move 9,000 miles away.
“Sam explained that he was trying to decide whether to simply pay off the Bahamas’ $9 billion national debt himself so the country could repair roads and build schools and so on,” Lewis wrote.
In 2021, The Bahamas had a national debt of about 103 percent of gross domestic product, or about $11.6 billion. International Monetary Fund found it. The most recent data from the IMF shows that the national debt is approximately $11.8 billion.
Lewis revealed that one of the Prime Minister’s aides told him that after Davis was elected in 2021, SBF was the first person he wanted to meet.
Lewis, the bestselling author of “The Big Short,” met Bankman-Fried more than 100 times in two years, according to CBS News.
Bankman-Fried bought a $30 million luxury penthouse for himself and his colleagues in the Bahamas
One bedroom in the luxury penthouse in the Bahamas)
A view of the interior of the penthouse
Bankman-Fried’s parents owned a $16.4 million ‘vacation home’ in the gated community of Old Fort Bay
The author also revealed that SBF was considering paying Donald Trump $5 billion not to run for president in 2024.
He even paid NFL star Tom Brady $55 million for doing a week’s work over a three-year period.
Jury selection began today in the trial against SBF, almost a year after the collapse of its crypto exchange following an alleged fraud totaling $8 billion dollars.
The trial is expected to last six weeks, and the prosecution’s key witness is his ex-girlfriend and former top lieutenant, Caroline Ellison.
Bankman-Fried has admitted that risk management is inadequate but denies stealing money.
At the start of proceedings on Tuesday, Kaplan told Bankman-Fried in open court that it would ultimately be his decision whether or not to ultimately testify in his own defense, and he asked Bankman-Fried if he understood.
“Yes,” Bankman-Fried replied. He was dressed in a suit and tie, and his once signature curly, unkempt hair was cut into a neater trim.
Prosecutor Nicolas Roos said the two sides never had discussions about a possible plea deal and that no such offer was made to Bankman-Fried. Mark Cohen, attorney for Bankman-Fried, confirmed this was correct.
Bankman-Fried was extradited to the United States to face embezzlement charges. Jury selection in his trial began today
The prosecution’s star witness is his ex-girlfriend and former top lieutenant, Caroline Ellison
The process is expected to take six weeks. It will include testimony from three former members of Bankman-Fried’s inner circle who have themselves pleaded guilty to fraud charges and agreed to cooperate with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Manhattan.
Bankman-Fried’s attorneys have indicated they intend to cast doubt on the credibility of these witnesses — including former Alameda chief Ellison and former FTX executives Gary Wang and Nishad Singh — by arguing that they are motivated to protect their client to get a lower sentence, a common strategy. in cases of white-collar fraud.
They also laid the foundation for the argument that Bankman-Fried believed his exchange was allowed to invest customers’ deposits as long as they could eventually withdraw their money, and that a series of corporate bankruptcies – not deliberate fraud – left the exchange. without enough money to fulfill withdrawal requests.
Bankman-Fried’s case is the most high-profile case brought by US prosecutors to date against a former cryptocurrency executive.
His indictment last December marked a spectacular fall from grace for Bankman-Fried, who had built a reputation as a legitimate player in an industry whose image has been tarnished by scams and so-called get-rich-quick schemes.
Prosecutors say Bankman-Fried built that reputation on lies and bolstered it with endorsements from celebrities and top athletes.
Bankman-Fried has been in custody since August 11, after a judge ruled he was likely guilty of witness tampering, including by sharing Ellison’s personal writings with a reporter.
He will be brought to court early on most days so he can prepare with his lawyers.