FTX sues Sam Bankman-Fried's parents for 'millions of dollars

The FTX exchange has sued Sam Bankman-Fried's parents for "millions of dollars"

Top managers of the bankrupt crypto exchange intend to return customer funds that its former head transferred to his family

FTX executives have sued the parents of the bankrupt exchange's former head Sam Bankman-Fried for the return of "millions of dollars," according to a court filing dated Sept. 18. The plaintiffs allege the funds were illegally transferred to Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried.

In February 2022, Bankman and Fried probed a property in the Bahamas worth about $18 million, but they did not contribute their own funds; the entire amount was paid by FTX, the document states. In addition, the lawsuit notes that Sam Bankman-Fried gave his parents $10 million in cash through a loan from Alameda Research.

Both Bankman and Fried are professors at Stanford Law School. According to the complaint, Bankman also helped other FTX employees squander the group's funds on various donations, while Barbara Fried was the "person in charge" of the political donation strategy of her son, the ex-ex-Chief Executive of the exchange.

The total amount that Bankman and Fried may have embezzled is not specified in the documents, but they mention expenses such as a $5.5 million donation to Stanford University, hotel rooms at $1,200 a night, airline tickets and Bankman's $200,000-a-year salary for his work as a senior adviser to the FTX Foundation.

In early August, prosecutors filed a new opinion charging the FTX founder with using cryptocurrency exchange client funds for purposes ranging from buying personal real estate to funding election campaigns. Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty to fraud and money laundering.