From The Verge: The estate of now-defunct crypto exchange FTX has filed a lawsuit against Binance and its former CEO Changpeng Zhao in a bid to recover $1.76 billion. FTX alleges these funds were fraudulently transferred to Binance, Zhao, and other Binance executives in July 2021 as part of a shares repurchase deal with FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried.
According to the filing, the transaction saw Binance sell back the 20 percent stake it held in FTX’s international unit and 18.4 percent in its US-based entity, which Bankman-Fried paid for using a mix of FTX and Binance-branded cryptocurrencies. The FTX estate alleges the share repurchase deal was conducted unlawfully because — following massive fraud by Bankman-Fried and other executives — FTX and its sister company Alameda were already insolvent at the time, and unable to fund the transaction.
Bankman-Fried, who is serving a 25-year prison sentence, was convicted of fraud last year after using customer funds to make investments, political donations, and purchase property.
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