DOJ targets $16 million in Binance account tied to Sam Bankman-Fried foreign bribery case

US authorities strike at Binance account amid extensive hunt for $3 billion in FTX assets.

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The US Department of Justice (DOJ) filed a civil forfeiture complaint to seize approximately $16 million in assets from a Binance account connected to an FTX bribery case, according to a Nov. 12 court filing.

The Binance account, created in November 2023, contains various digital assets, including Internet Computer (ICP), Avalanche (AVAX), Ripple (XRP), Cardano (ADA), and Solana (SOL).

The account reportedly received deposits in stablecoins and Bitcoin almost daily, which were swiftly converted to other assets.

Chinese bribe

According to the DOJ, former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried allegedly approved a $40 million bribe to Chinese officials in November 2021.

This bribe aimed to unfreeze Alameda Research’s crypto trading accounts on two exchanges in China, which law enforcement authorities had frozen. The filing stated that these accounts held an estimated $1 billion in crypto.

Once the accounts were unfrozen, Bankman-Fried authorized “tens of millions of dollars in crypto” payments to finalize the bribe. The funds were then laundered through multiple private wallets to obscure the payments’ origins and intentions.

Investigators eventually traced these funds from private wallets to the implicated Binance account.

Meanwhile, the bribery allegations, originally part of Bankman-Fried’s indictment, formed one of thirteen, charging him with conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. That charge was later separated from the main trial that led to his conviction.

Over $3 billion in recovery efforts

This DOJ filing marks another chapter in the pursuit to recover over $3 billion in assets linked to FTX-related criminal activity.

In recent weeks, FTX has initiated several lawsuits to accelerate its fund recovery mission. The firm filed actions against Binance and Changpeng Zhao for $1.8 billion and against Waves founder Aleksandr Ivanov for $90 million.

Further, another of the exchange suits targets the creators of Storybook Brawl, a video game that Bankman-Fried supported. FTX further pursued a significant clawback action against Nawaaz Mohammad Meerun, known as “Humpy the Whale,” alleging that he caused over $1 billion in market manipulation-related losses.

Other cases target FTX’s political donations and public figures, including former White House official Anthony Scaramucci and famous marketer Neil Patel.

Combined, these legal actions represent claims exceeding $3 billion. However, an advocate for FTX creditors, known as Mr. Purple on X, expressed skepticism about full recovery.

He noted that the defunct firm often settles for a fraction of the claim amount—typically 10% to 20%— and suggested it would be surprising if recoveries reached even $0.5 billion from these efforts.

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