Gregory Coleman, the retired Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) agent who was concerned within the instances of the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme and prosecution of Jordan Belfort, generally often called the ‘Wolf of Wall Street’, has detailed the easiest way prosecutors can deal with the FTX crypto alternate state of affairs.
In line with Coleman, prosecuting FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) is straightforward, and investigators solely have to comply with the cash and deal with the state of affairs as a foul buying and selling state of affairs, he said in an interview with Fortune on December 21.
“In a financial crime case, the money will always lead you to the bad guys,” he mentioned.
On this case, the previous agent shared a speculation and famous that investigators want to take a look at Alameda Analysis as an entity that was possible not earning profits and acquired belongings from FTX to cowl bets. Notably, Alameda Analysis is a sister firm to FTX, each based by Bankman-Fried.
‘SBF innocent until proven guilty’
With Bankman-Fried extradited to the USA, Coleman additionally identified that the previous FTX boss is harmless till confirmed responsible.
“[SBF] is just starting to understand the gravity of what he is facing and the potential ramifications. Everyone is considered innocent until proven guilty, but the facts don’t look good for him,” Coleman mentioned.
Curiously, Coleman warned that FTX holders may not obtain a few of their cash whilst collectors work in the direction of recovering the belongings. He acknowledged that many of the cash would possible come from liquidating belongings bought utilizing FTX proceeds.
In line with the retired agent, if the properties had been bought by way of digital belongings, they are often traced. Nonetheless, he acknowledged that monitoring digital belongings is a bit advanced.
Certainly, Coleman helped seize the belongings concerned within the Bernie Madoff scandal, the perpetrator of the most important particular person Ponzi Scheme. On the similar time, he contributed to bringing down Belfort, together with his monitoring of the shares revealing that the ‘Wolf of Wall Street’ participated in “pump and dump” schemes that artificially inflated the value of a inventory.
Madoff, Belfort, and SBF comparisons
Moreover, Coleman additionally in contrast the three instances noting that Madoff, Belfort, and SBF possible laundered the proceeds of their crime.
Nonetheless, he famous that Madoff’s case was a Ponzi scheme, whereas Bankman-Fried could be equated to embezzlement, and Belfort engaged in securities fraud and manipulation.
Within the meantime, SBF is anticipated to face prosecution in the USA, with stories indicating that former FTX executives are cooperating with authorities.
