According to a Bloomberg report, the Californian university Stanford University intends to return all funds it received from the now-defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX running into millions.
Between November 2021 and May 2022, Stanford received $5,500,000 in donations from FTX-affiliated entities. September 19 email statement from a university spokesperson:
“We have been in discussions with attorneys for the FTX debtors to recover these gifts and we will be returning the funds in their entirety.”
The Stanford statement clarified that the university “received donations from the FTX Foundation and FTX-affiliated companies primarily for pandemic prevention and research.”
Allan Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) ‘s parents, are legal scholars who have taught at Stanford’s law school.
Stanford has renounced FTX’s financial support because of allegations that SBF’s parents stole millions from the cryptocurrency exchange.
According to court documents, FTX debtors filed a lawsuit against the two on September 18, alleging they misappropriated funds through their involvement with the exchange to “enrich themselves, directly and indirectly, by millions of dollars.” Bankman allegedly served as a “de facto officer” for FTX Group.
According to court documents from these most recent accusations, Bankman included Fried when he expressed concerns about his $200,000 annual salary that neither SBF nor FTX US addressed.
According to the documents, Bankman anticipated a $1 million annual salary.
On September 19, SBF’s attorneys argued before a panel of three judges for his early release from prison to prepare for his October trial.
As a result of his attempts to intimidate witness and former CEO of Alameda Research Caroline Ellison, one of the hearing’s judges reportedly stated that SBF’s legal team’s argument regarding his First Amendment rights “has no play anymore.”
