(Kitco News) - As the bankruptcy proceedings for the defunct crypto exchange FTX continue, the government has launched a new website for victims of the alleged fraud committed by the exchange’s founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF).
According to a report from Reuters, court papers filed on Friday show that federal prosecutors in Manhattan have asked U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan for permission to use the website to notify victims and facilitate their communication with law enforcement.
Typically, victims in these situations are contacted individually, but with more than 1 million potential victims of FTX owed money, contacting each one is “impractical,” according to the filing.
Prosecutors are required by federal law to contact all possible crime victims and inform them of their rights, including the right to full and timely restitution as provided in law, to be heard in court and to be reasonably protected from the accused.
The website went live on Friday afternoon despite the fact that Judge Kaplan has yet to rule on the request.
“If you believe that you may have been a victim of fraud by Samuel Bankman-Fried, A/K/A/ ‘SBF,’ please contact the victim/witness coordinator at the United States Attorney’s office using the email address listed below for assistance in verifying whether you are a victim in this case,” the website says.
Qualified parties have been directed to contact Wendy Olsen Clancy, the victim/witness coordinator assigned to the case by sending an email to USANYS-FTXVictims@usdoj.gov.
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Prosecutors on the case have alleged that SBF stole billions in FTX customer funds to pay debts for his hedge fund, Alameda Research, and made materially false statements about the financial condition of FTX.
In total, SBF has been charged with eight counts including conspiracy to commit wire fraud on customers, wire fraud on customers, conspiracy to commit wire fraud on lenders, wire fraud on lenders, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and conspiracy to defraud the United States and violate the campaign finance laws.
On Tuesday, Bankman-Fried entered a plea of ‘not guilty’ on all charges and requested that the court keep the identities of the other two signatories on his bail a secret in order to protect them from public blowback.
