Prosecutors in the U.S. government’s case against Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried have proposed a court order to sell two private aircraft before the conclusion of the forfeiture proceedings against the former FTX CEO.
In a filing on March 22 with the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams stated that the government is seeking to execute an interlocutory sale of two planes linked to FTX and SBF in order to prevent their devaluation. Prosecutors argued back in October 2023 that the Bombardier Global and Embraer Legacy aircraft are subject to forfeiture due to their connection to Bankman-Fried’s criminal case.
The specific price at which the government intends to sell the aircraft is unclear, although court filings from October 2023 indicate that they were purchased for $15.9 million and $12.5 million, respectively. Prosecutors have stated that they plan to reimburse up to $1.8 million for maintenance and upkeep costs, as well as $183,000 for the delivery of the Legacy, assuming that the proceeds from the sale are sufficient.
Prosecutors have reached an agreement with FTX and related parties to have the Embraer Legacy delivered to a Florida airport, where the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS) can initiate the sale proceedings in a timely manner. The USMS already has custody of the Bombardier Global following a February 2023 warrant.
The luxury jets are just a few of the assets tied to Bankman-Fried that are subject to forfeiture following his criminal conviction. A recent filing in March listed other assets, including Robinhood stock, fiat currency in U.S. dollars, cryptocurrency in Binance and Binance.US accounts, and political contributions made by SBF during his tenure as FTX CEO. Bankman-Fried and his attorney, Marc Mukasey, have not objected to the sale of the aircraft.
Bankman-Fried, the former FTX CEO, was convicted of seven felony counts in November 2023 and is currently in prison awaiting a sentencing hearing on March 28. Prosecutors have recommended a sentence of 40 to 50 years, while Bankman-Fried’s defense has requested a sentence of 6.5 years.
In light of the collapse of FTX, many are questioning the trustworthiness of crypto exchanges.