Like every good father or mother, Sam Bankman-Fried’s mom and father have stood firmly behind their son from the start of his crypto profession till his fall from grace, however their staunch assist and up to date courtroom antics have put them beneath heavy scrutiny.
Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, each professors at Stanford College, sat within the third row of Bankman-Fried’s extradition listening to within the Bahamas, the place their animated expressions have been in full view.
Bankman, who acquired funds from FTX and was closely concerned within the doomed platform’s operations, was seen sporadically plugging his ears all through the method, whereas Fried laughed a number of occasions.
New FTX CEO John Ray revealed he will likely be investigating Bankman and Fried’s position of their son’s alleged cryptocurrency rip-off on the firm, notably after it was confirmed that Bankman had given Bankman-Fried “authorized recommendation” and that the household was given money funds.
Careers
Each Bankman and Fried train legislation at Stanford College, the place their alleged involvement of their son’s FTX schemes has develop into a “topic of gossip” amongst colleagues, the New York Instances reported.
Sam Bankman-Fried’s mother and father, each Standford College legislation professors, have fallen beneath scrutiny of their son’s alleged crypto scheme.AFP through Getty Photos
In accordance with his college biography, Bankman makes a speciality of tax legislation and has written two casebooks on the topic. Along with being a training lawyer, Bankman is a medical psychologist and teaches psychological well being legislation.
Fried is a professor emerita of legislation at Stanford. Like her husband, she additionally wrote about tax coverage, however her “scholarly pursuits lie on the intersection of legislation, economics, and philosophy,” her biography states. She is a three-time winner of the John Bingham Hurlbut Award for Excellence in Instructing.
Ties to Democrats
Bankman helped write Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s failed laws to simplify the tax code in 2016. He then signed a letter of assist for the invoice with 53 different legislation professors.
Joseph Bankman was a paid worker of FTX.Stanford College
Barbara Fried based tremendous political motion committee Thoughts The Hole in 2018Stanford College
Bankman additionally has a historical past of donating 1000’s of {dollars} to Democratic campaigns, together with Warren.
Fried co-founded tremendous political motion committee Thoughts The Hole in 2018, in line with the New York Instances, although she resigned in November. The group makes use of statistical evaluation to find out the dollar-value affect of donations on Democrats working for the Home of Representatives.
Fried was carefully tied to her son’s donations huge donations to Democrats earlier than the 2022 midterms, Enterprise Insider reported. Bankman-Fried was charged with utilizing tens of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} in Alameda funds to illegally make political donations “to candidates and committees related to each Democrats and Republicans.” The White Home has not mentioned whether or not Biden would return the fraudulent cash Bankman-Fried donated to his 2020 political marketing campaign.
Bankman-Fried and his mom on the Justice of the Peace’s Court docket in Nassau, Bahamas, Tuesday.Bloomberg through Getty Photos
Roles in FTX
Bankman was a paid FTX worker for practically a 12 months, a spokesperson for the household advised The Wall Road Journal, however largely labored on charity initiatives for the corporate.
Fried was not a paid worker on the cryptocurrency firm.
Ray confirmed Tuesday that “the household did obtain funds.”
Moreover, Bankman-Fried purchased a $16.4 million home within the Bahamas for his mother and father in FTX’s title. The posh beachfront property was for use as a “trip house,” although Bankman-Fried later claimed he didn’t intend for his mother and father to make use of it long-term.
“It was meant to be the corporate’s property. I don’t know the way that was papered in,” he mentioned.
The couple has been residing within the Bahamas with their son for the previous month, the Wall Road Journal mentioned.