đź’ąClass Action against FTX says SBF, Tom Brady, Larry David, and other celebrities 'could be liable' for crypto endorsement.
Sam Bankman-Fried, Tom Brady, Gisele Bundchen, Stephen
Curry, Golden State Warriors, Shaquille O’Neal, Udonis Haslem, David Ortiz, William Trevor Lawrence, Shohei Ohtani, Naomi Osaka, Lawrence Gene David, and Kevin O’Leary (collectively,“Defendants”) should be held liable for violating Florida law and causing consumers to suffer more than $11 billion in damages.
Florida lawyer Adam Moskowitz is representing FTX investor Edwin Garrison in the lawsuit against its founder, crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried and all the celebrity promoters.
The lawsuit claims all parties who either controlled, promoted, assisted in, and actively participated inFTX Trading LTD d/b/a FTX’s (“FTX Trading”) and West Realm Shires Services Inc. d/b/a FTXUS’s (“FTX US”) (collectively, the “FTX Entities”), offer and sale of unregistered securities in the form of yield-bearing accounts (“YBAs”) to residents of the United States and are seeking to recover damages, declaratory and/or injunctive relief stemming from the offer and sale of FTX Trading’s and FTX US’s yield-bearing cryptocurrency accounts.
Moskowitz said that the FTX lawsuit, which names Bankman-Fried, Tom Brady, and others, seeks to hold "anybody and everybody that could be liable" accountable for causing his clients several billion in damages.
"The FTX Entities and Defendants made numerous misrepresentations and omissions to Plaintiff and Class Members about the Deceptive FTX Platform in order to induce confidence and to drive consumers to invest in what was ultimately a Ponzi scheme, misleading customers and prospective customers with the false impression that any cryptocurrency assets held on the Deceptive FTX Platform were safe and were not being invested in unregistered securities," the lawsuit states.
"There are celebrities that made a lot of money and promoted this product," he said. "There’s case law right on point that unless you tell people you’re getting paid and how much you’re getting paid and what your incentive is, you can be liable."
The unraveling of the once-giant exchange is sending shockwaves through the industry, with companies that backed FTX writing down investments and the prices of bitcoin and other digital currencies falling. Politicians and regulators are calling for stricter oversight of the unwieldy industry. Experts say the saga is still unfolding.
The Deceptive and failed FTX Platform was based upon false representations and deceptive conduct. Although many incriminating FTX emails and texts have already been destroyed, we located them, and they are evidence of how FTX’s fraudulent scheme was designed to take advantage of unsophisticated investors from across the country who utilize mobile apps to make their investments. As a result, American consumers collectively sustained over $11 billion dollars in damages. FTX organized and emanated its fraudulent plan from its worldwide headquarters located here in Miami, Florida.
Since the collapse of FTX, many have called for the former CEO to face legal ramifications. As Cointelegraph reported, authorities in the United States have reportedly begun working with law enforcement in the Bahamas to extradite SBF to the U.S. for questioning potentially.
FTX is already under investigation in the Bahamas, where its FTX Digital Markets arm, as well as many company executives — including SBF — are located. Financial authorities in Turkey have also launched an investigation into the exchange.
The lawsuit was filed in Florida because the defendants, it says, "conduct business in Florida, and/or have otherwise intentionally availed themselves of the Florida consumer market through the promotion, marketing, and sale of FTX’s YBAs in Florida, which constitutes committing a tortious act within the state of Florida.
FTX and its CEO are under investigation by the Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission to determine whether any criminal activity or securities offenses were committed.