Stanford University to Refund All Donations from Collapsed Crypto Exchange FTX Amidst Fraud Allegations
Summary:
Stanford University plans to return all donations given by the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX. The university revealed that it received a total of $5.5 million from FTX-related entities from November 2021 to May 2022. This decision comes amidst allegations of fraud against the parents of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. The ex-CEO's parents are accused of misappropriating millions from the exchange, with legal proceedings against them initiated on September 18.
Stanford University, located in California, intends to refund all donations it received from the now-collapsed cryptocurrency exchange, FTX, Bloomberg has reported. Between November 2021 and May 2022, the university received a total of $5.5 million in contributions from FTX-related organizations. As detailed in an email message on September 19, a spokesperson for the university stated that they have been interacting with attorneys for FTX's debtors to reacquire these donations and will be completely refunding the funds. Stanford University further explained that these funds, mostly intended for pandemic-related prevention and research, were donated by the FTX Foundation and other FTX-connected companies. Both the parents of ex-FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) are established law scholars who have lectured at Stanford's law faculty. However, the repudiation of FTX's financial contributions by Stanford comes at a time when allegations of malfeasance run rampant against SBF's parents. A lawsuit was initiated against the couple on September 18 by FTX's debtors, accusing them of misappropriating funds through their involvement with the company and purportedly enriching themselves with millions of dollars, as per court documents. Bankman is even alleged to have taken on an unofficial leadership role within the FTX Group. In the most recent court documents related to these claims, Bankman reportedly included Fried when expressing discontent about his annual salary of $200,000, which was not addressed by SBF or FTX US. Bankman had anticipated a yearly income of $1 million as per the documents. In a hearing held on September 19, legal representatives for SBF appealed to a panel of three judges for his early release from custody as he readies himself for his trial scheduled to commence in October. One judge overseeing the hearing reportedly dismissed SBF's legal team's argument of his First Amendment rights, saying it is no longer applicable due to his efforts to intimidate witness and previous Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison.
Published At
9/20/2023 8:55:51 AM
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