Robinhood shares: $455 million HOOD seized from Sam Bankman-Fried

The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has seized $455 million of Robinhood (HOOD) shares from Sam Bankman-Fried, who wanted to use them to cover his legal fees.  

Robinhood: US government seized Sam Bankman-Fried’s $HOOD shares

The US government has officially seized the $455 million Robinhood $HOOD shares of Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of failed crypto-exchange FTX. 

JUST IN: 🇺🇸 US government officially seizes SBF's $455 million Robinhood $HOOD shares.

— Watcher.Guru (@WatcherGuru) January 9, 2023

Bankman-Fried had reportedly used a loan obtained from Alameda Research to purchase these HOOD. During this time, the young man also reportedly asked the court for access to these shares so that he could use them to pay his legal fees. 

Unfortunately for him, the same court did not grant the request and decided that the Robinhood shares held at the British broker ED&F Man, were part of the seized assets that constitute property involved in the violation of crimes, including wire fraud and money laundering.

Robinhood: the shares and the collapse of FTX

This news of the seizure of the Robinhood shares, is another update on the FTX case and its CEO, a collapse that has scarred millions of users in the crypto community. 

Just yesterday, two months after the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange, it appears that the company’s administration has passed to receiver John J. Ray III, who is trying to cash in as many assets as possible in order to return capital to creditors. 

At the same time, there was also a new objection from the US trustee, Andrew Vara, who requested an independent investigation before selling the assets. 

Essentially, Vara could be referring to those FTX group companies that once sold might no longer be subject to the authorities’ investigation. And in fact, if they were sold, there would be a greater chance that important information could be lost for possible future lawsuits against the company’s directors, officers and employees. 

The trial for the conviction of Sam Bankman-Fried

It has been since earlier this month that Sam Bankman-Fried’s sentencing trial has been underway, after FTX collapsed on 11 November 2022. Nowadays, he is trying to defend himself on Twitter. 

With over 300 million active users and Elon Musk’s latest acquisition, the social network of crypto-lovers is often used by people to update their positions. 

And thus Bankman-Fried has been seen several times defending himself against various accusations via his Twitter profile. 

Not only that, the former FTX CEO has also appeared in special interviews and used the social network even to respond to those who were accusing him.