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The United States of America vs. Samuel Bankman-Fried Indictment [pdf]

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741–748 of 748 posts

Re: The United States of America vs. Samuel Bankman-Fried Indictment [pdf]

#741

Can we discus recovery? The Madoff trustee was able to recover something like 90% of the Madoff Ponzi. Alameda and FTX's real estate purchases have value, as do their VC investments, purchases of bank stock, etc. In other words, it's not all gone. My understanding is that even some of the political contributions can be clawed back. FTX's purchases of IOU's (i.e., crypto) that declined in value are not likely to be re…

The problem is opportunity cost. People invested in Madoff to grow their money. So if I invest $100 in Madoff and ten years later they say “we recovered $90, congrats,” yeah that’s better than nothing. But if I had put that into a legitimate investment, maybe I’d have $180. Other folks got money out of Madoff during his scam years, and the trustee says “I’m taking that money back to pay back others.” So much of crypt…

I'd say there is a good chance they can claw back some of the endorsement money. A celebrity endorser is more than just some vendor, it is someone that is lending credence to the scam either wittingly or unwittingly.

Re: The United States of America vs. Samuel Bankman-Fried Indictment [pdf]

#742

Can we discus recovery? The Madoff trustee was able to recover something like 90% of the Madoff Ponzi. Alameda and FTX's real estate purchases have value, as do their VC investments, purchases of bank stock, etc. In other words, it's not all gone. My understanding is that even some of the political contributions can be clawed back. FTX's purchases of IOU's (i.e., crypto) that declined in value are not likely to be re…

The problem is opportunity cost. People invested in Madoff to grow their money. So if I invest $100 in Madoff and ten years later they say “we recovered $90, congrats,” yeah that’s better than nothing. But if I had put that into a legitimate investment, maybe I’d have $180. Other folks got money out of Madoff during his scam years, and the trustee says “I’m taking that money back to pay back others.” So much of crypt…

> Other folks got money out of Madoff during his scam years, and the trustee says “I’m taking that money back to pay back others.”

I wonder if things like the political donations could be clawed back.

Re: The United States of America vs. Samuel Bankman-Fried Indictment [pdf]

#743
post #732
post #718

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But this is nothing like the Madoff situation. So you're saying if I withdraw my rightful funds 80 days before a company goes bankrupt, and I use those funds to pay for consumable goods, and consume those goods, that those funds can be clawed back and I am now in debt? That doesn't sound right at all. I also just looked and a preferential transfer would be when the company that goes bankrupt deliberately pays off som…

Not only can it happen like that, it can happen like that even if there is no fraud. Paying off some customers you owe money to would be giving those creditors preference, I don't see how else you could interpret it. Heck, FTX went out of its way to only allow Bahamian citizens to withdraw money at the end, imagining that would be the jury pool deciding their fate soon.

I don't believe it would even be possible to "claw back" consumed goods, is my point. If you can link to some examples of ordinary people getting money clawed back because they withdrew it form a financial institution prior to bankruptcy, please do, because I simply don't understand how that's possible. The money is gone.

Re: The United States of America vs. Samuel Bankman-Fried Indictment [pdf]

#744

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Let’s see if his ‘I’m baby’ defense works in court. It was a foolish move to open his mouth at all on the matter, let alone go on every podcast that invited him and took every interview to spout his self-incriminating non-sense and riling up the Media and the public's ire in the process. If that was his goal, he has terribly failed to establish anything that suggests it will work Worst yet... is his choice for chie…

Is that the kind of high end lawyer you get when other high end lawyers say ‘No’?

No, it’s the kind of lawyer you can buy with money whose origins you can’t explain.

Re: The United States of America vs. Samuel Bankman-Fried Indictment [pdf]

#745
post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are so many people who have obtained fortunes and not become drunk on that. The person who built a liquor store and grew into 20 stores across the city. People who started consulting companies. That immigrant family who scraped and scraped for decades while living above their restaurant. The list is endless, especially compared to the much shorter list of crypto criminals who are drunk on their illusory power a…

> There are so many people who have obtained fortunes and not become drunk on that. Both my perception and my experience from knowing several extremely wealthy 'self-made' people is that the vast majority are fairly quiet, prudent, bright and hard-working people who've managed to make (mostly) good long-term decisions and continue doing so consistently over time. I suspect the "crazy, playboy billionaire" stereotype…

This is the central theme of the book "The Millionaire Next Door".

Re: The United States of America vs. Samuel Bankman-Fried Indictment [pdf]

#746
post #539

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There was. They marked their entire investments to zero. A total loss.

What about the funds that FTX invested back into Sequoia?

Sounds like Sequoia has something to go after.

Re: The United States of America vs. Samuel Bankman-Fried Indictment [pdf]

#747

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The strategy of ignoring advice from attorneys has "worked" for Trump and Musk. Welcome to the age of solipsistic anti-expertise, where cult ivating your personal brand matters above all else. It seems like an inevitable condition of deep set post-reality. The interesting question is what develops next.

Fascism. Large flowery fascism.

I guess you guys are right. The return of "big men" aka dictators.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_man_%28political_science%2...

Re: The United States of America vs. Samuel Bankman-Fried Indictment [pdf]

#748

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He stole billions of possible retirement money. Of course he should go to prison for life.

How will wasting his life behind bars help bring restitution?

Contrary to popular belief, prison is not entirely about reforming people but part punishment as well as protecting society from repeat offenders.

Also, he chose to open himself to the dangers of wasting his life behind bars when he enganged in incredibly illegal activities. It's not hard to not do that.

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