Federal prosecutors are casting their net ever wider as they continue to investigate the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency empire, with his father, brother and former colleagues, having all now been contacted, according to a report by the New York Times.
The report says a special task force has been created by the US attorney’s office in Manhattan to further the investigation into the demise of Bankman-Fried’s FTX cryptocurrency exchange and Alameda research hedge fund.
The report cites unnamed sources as saying that in recent weeks a ream of prosecutors led by Damian Williams, the US attorney for the Southern District of New York, have had talks with lawyers representing a dozen former executives and employees at FTX and Alameda Research. They are also reportedly looking into the role of some of Bankman-Fried’s family members.
Much of the criminal case against Bankman-Fried could hinge on evidence provided by former colleagues, with two of his closest advisers, Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang, having already pleaded guilty to fraud for their part in the FTX?Alameda collapse and have been cooperating with prosecutors for months. The investigators are now reportedly focusing their attention on other former FTX executives.
