Objections to the sale of FTX assets have been filed with a court in the U.S.
Authorities have demanded an independent investigation of anyone possibly involved in FTX's "abuses
U.S. Trustee Andrew Vara has filed objections to plans by the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX to sell its assets - cryptocurrency, clearing house LedgerX, as well as units of the exchange in Japan and Europe, reports Reuters, citing court documents.
A United States trustee is a federal official responsible for enforcing civil bankruptcy laws in the United States. U.S. trustees are appointed by the attorney general.
FTX filed for bankruptcy protection on Nov. 11 and on Dec. 15 asked the court for permission to sell the platforms to FTX Europe AG (Switzerland), FTX Japan Holdings K.K. (Japan) and two U.S. companies: the exchange and clearinghouse LedgerX and the depository platform Embed Financial Technologies Inc. along with its subsidiary Embed Clearing LLC. FTX says the sale of these firms could allow them to continue or resume operations and, as a result, increase their value.
U.S. Trustee Andrew Ware's statement calls for an independent investigation before selling the assets.
In early January, it was revealed that exchange executives spent $40 million in the first nine months of 2022 to pay for hotels, entertainment and flights. Exact items of expenditure have not been identified, but according to Insider, most of the money - about $15 million - was spent on accommodations at Bahamian resorts, and $6.9 million was spent on "meals and entertainment."
The exchange spent about $3.9 million on airfare, and another $500,000 on "postage and shipping, which may be due to the fact that FTX hired private planes to deliver Amazon packages from Miami to employees at its headquarters in the Bahamas, because the usual way goods from the marketplace were not delivered to the country.
FTX's bankruptcy case is pending in Delaware County, New York. At the same time, a court case is pending in Manhattan against Sam Bankman-Fried, the exchange's founder and former executive.
