- The stock is allegedly owned by Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX co-founder Gary Wang
- New FTX head John Ray III asked a judge to freeze the shares
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) seized Robinhood stock worth around $456 million based on its closing price of $8.25 on Friday. The stock is allegedly owned by Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX co-founder Gary Wang, CoinDesk reported. Ownership of the 55 million shares was arranged through a holding company called ED&F Man, a UK-based brokerage.
Property involved in violations
According to the court, the “seized assets constitute property involved in violations” linked to wire fraud, money laundering, and other crimes. Formal charges were pressed on Sam Bankman-Fried for those crimes on Dec. 13, among others.
In principle, the Robinhood shares were owned by SBF and Gary Wang through their Emergent Fidelity Technologies holding company. FTX’s new CEO, John Ray III, asked a judge to freeze the shares. SBF objected, saying he needed them to help cover his legal fees.
Who really owns the shares?
On Wednesday last week, the US government announced it was going to seize several assets potentially linked to FTX. SBF, FTX creditor Yonathan Ben Shimon, and bankrupt crypto lender BlockFi are in dispute over the shares’ ownership.
One of the motions put forth was related to Robinhood stock also seized by the federal government, DOJ counsel Seth Shapiro told a Delaware bankruptcy court last Wednesday, adding:
We believe that these assets are not property in the bankruptcy estate or are subject to exemptions, meaning they don’t have to be frozen like most FTX assets are, pending wind-up.
