The bankrupt crypto exchange FTX and its sister company Alameda Research are seeking to get back $71M from its philanthropic arm and other investments.
FTX Foundation, in partnership with Latona, took approximately $71.5 million from the company to donate and invest in life science companies. Lawyers claim that this fund transfer was for FTX founder Sam-Bankam’s personal benefits.
The filling shows that the funds were sent to different life science companies including Lumen Bioscience Inc. and Platform Life Sciences Inc. under the guise of effective altruism. Effective altruism is a philanthropy activity to help others in financial need.
“While purporting to make these investments for altruistic purposes, Bankman-Fried pursued these transactions because he believed that doing so would generate goodwill and amass political capital and influence for himself,” lawyers said in the court filing.
Last month, Alameda Research sought to recover $700m from Sam Bankman-Fried that he paid to access politicians and other public figures. FTX also previously asked the court to get back $323m from the exchange’s European arm.
Till now, FTX has recovered a total of $7B in liquid assets in efforts to recover customer funds. New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art is also returning the donation of $550k it received from FTX.
