A former high lawyer for FTX who was beforehand embroiled within the Final Wager on-line poker dishonest scandal is working with US authorities as they examine the collapse of the crypto buying and selling agency that prosecutors are calling “one of many greatest monetary frauds in US historical past.”
It was lately revealed that Daniel Friedberg met with two dozen investigators — together with from the US Justice Division, Federal Bureau of Investigation and Securities and Trade Fee — in November 2022 and informed them about FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s “use of buyer funds to finance his enterprise empire,” in accordance with a Reuters unique printed in the present day.
The report, which relies on info from an unidentified supply and several other emails reviewed by Reuters, states that Friedberg “recounted conversations he had with different high executives on the topic and offered particulars of how Bankman-Fried’s hedge fund Alameda Analysis functioned.”
Previous to his govt function at FTX, Friedberg served as lead lawyer for Final Wager, a defunct on-line poker website the place insiders used a “god mode” function to cheat hundreds of gamers out of tens of millions within the mid-2000s. The Reuters report famous Friedberg’s involvement within the UB scandal and cited PokerNews’ 2013 reporting of leaked audio revealing Friedberg, Russ Hamilton and different UB insiders admitting to dishonest and plotting a cover-up.
Have a look again on the Absolute Poker & Final Wager scandal
Friedberg to Testify at Bankman-Fried Trial
The collapse of FTX is proving to be one of many greatest monetary scandals in current reminiscence. A number of poker gamers reported dropping enormous sums within the FTX crash, together with former professional Alex Wice who misplaced his “complete web value on FTX.”
Daniel Friedberg (Picture courtesy of Reddit)
Because it seems, Friedman, who has not been charged and isn’t underneath felony investigation, in accordance with Reuters, will play an important function within the felony case towards Bankman-Fried, who in December pleaded not responsible to federal prices of wire fraud, securities fraud and cash laundering.
Friedberg reportedly resigned from FTX, which a now-deleted weblog submit acknowledged he was with “from the very starting,” in early November as the corporate’s dire monetary scenario got here to gentle. Emails reviewed by Reuters present Friedberg telling prosecutors he wished “to cooperate in all respects” and he’s anticipated to be referred to as as a authorities witness in Bankman-Fried’s trial later this 12 months.
No shock there. Snake within the grass Daniel Friedberg, greatest recognized to us for being caught on tape conspiring to co… https://t.co/adXm22Qj9T
— Todd Witteles (@ToddWitteles)
Friedman’s Troubled Previous
Greater than a decade earlier than he was entangled within the FTX collapse, Friedman was on the heart of the largest dishonest scandal in on-line poker historical past.
As PokerNews has reported, Hamilton and others cheated gamers out of greater than $50 million earlier than a Kahnawake Gaming Fee investigation discovered “fraudulent exercise … traced to unauthorized software program code that transferred hole-card info” of opponents to these utilizing God mode.
After discovering dishonest that went again to June 2003, the Kahnawake Gaming Fee issued Final Wager a $1.5 million wonderful and ordered the reimbursement of $22 million to affected gamers.
Audio leaked by former Hamilton assistant Travis Makar revealed the disgraced Fundamental Occasion champion admitting to stealing between $16 and $18 million from gamers. It additional revealed Friedberg discussing methods to cowl up the dishonest, together with a plot to make Makar the autumn man to deflect blame from Hamilton.
PokerNews will proceed to observe the previous UB lawyer’s function within the ongoing FTX controversy and Bankman-Fried’s trial.
