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<p class="is-style-lead">Customer funds from Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX were allegedly spent on a $2.5-million yacht, which was believed to be a gift for Sam Trabucco, the former co-CEO of Alameda Research. </p> 
<p class="is-style-default">Two filings — <a href="file:///Users/tonynoto/Downloads/9a82f8ba-af89-42f5-9272-6e38195f6893.pdf" data-type="link" data-id="file:///Users/tonynoto/Downloads/9a82f8ba-af89-42f5-9272-6e38195f6893.pdf" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">one</a> from July 31 and <a href="https://t.co/dLzzl1zoXU" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">another</a> from Aug. 31 — show a long list of statements, fund transfers and payments made prior to FTX’s <a href="https://crypto.news/ftx-bankruptcy-hearing-what-you-need-to-know/" data-type="link" data-id="https://crypto.news/ftx-bankruptcy-hearing-what-you-need-to-know/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">bankruptcy</a>. Among the items listed is a cash payment of more than $2.5 million to the American Yacht Group “for the benefit of Sam Trabucco.”</p> 
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   <p lang="en" dir="ltr">$2.5m of FTX customer deposits were used for Sam Trabucco's Yacht <a href="https://t.co/6gN4pvD3q8" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">pic.twitter.com/6gN4pvD3q8</a></p>— Sunil (FTX Creditor Champion) (@sunil_trades) <a href="https://twitter.com/sunil_trades/status/1697657482674360357?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">September 1, 2023</a> 
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<p>Trabucco was one of the first hires at Alameda, a trading firm and sister entity of FTX. He resigned from the now-defunct hedge fund on Aug. 24, 2022, claiming he could no longer “justify” being a central part of it and wishing to “prioritize” other things in his life.</p> 
<p>Less than three months later, FTX and Alameda <a href="https://crypto.news/bahamas-freezes-ftx-assets-alameda-research-winds-down/" data-type="link" data-id="https://crypto.news/bahamas-freezes-ftx-assets-alameda-research-winds-down/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">went</a> bankrupt.</p> 
<h3 class="wp-block-heading" id="an-ftx-parting-gift">An FTX parting gift</h3> 
<p>The yacht may have been a parting gift for Trabucco, as a farewell social media message from his then co-CEO Caroline Ellison made a cheeky reference to it.</p> 
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   <p lang="en" dir="ltr">It's been an incredibly formative experience working with <a href="https://twitter.com/AlamedaTrabucco?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">@AlamedaTrabucco</a>. I've missed having him around in recent months, but I'm proud of all the other Alameda employees who have stepped up and more excited than ever about our future. I hope he has a great time on his boat! <a href="https://t.co/HqA2gz0FvL" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">https://t.co/HqA2gz0FvL</a></p>— Caroline (@carolinecapital) <a href="https://twitter.com/carolinecapital/status/1562520474487521280?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">August 24, 2022</a> 
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<p>A Financial Times <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/7cfbb894-a332-4629-a417-4bcda27eb6e7" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">report</a> from 2022 also mentioned that Trabucco had bought a 52-foot yacht just before he walked away from Alameda. However, the report did not disclose where the money for the purchase came from. It did indicate that Trabucco paid a designer on the freelance service marketplace Fiverr to come up with a name for the boat.</p> 
<p> You might also like: <a href="https://crypto.news/judge-sets-urgent-timeline-for-bankman-frieds-trial/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"> Judge sets urgent timeline for Bankman-Fried’s trial </a> </p> 
<p>The court documents also show that Trabucco received three cash payments totaling $15.5 million. The quoted figures are $9.5 million lower than those stated by an FTX debtors group in a <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/ftx-debtors-file-schedules-and-statements-of-financial-affairs-with-bankruptcy-court-301773613.html?tc=eml_cleartime" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">press release</a> issued earlier in the year.&nbsp;</p> 
<p>The group claimed that the FTX <a href="https://crypto.news/ftx-wanted-to-buy-island-of-nauru-paid-themselves-huge-bonuses-court-docs-show/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">leadership</a> received more than $3 billion in direct payments unrelated to legitimate operational expenses. Of the amount, Bankman-Fried received an eye-watering $2.2 billion, with fellow executives <a href="https://crypto.news/former-co-lead-engineer-of-ftx-charged-by-sec-for-fraud/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">Nishad Singh</a> and Gary Wang getting $587 million and $246 million respectively.</p> 
<p>Bankman-Fried, who is scheduled to go on trial on Oct. 2, is currently being <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/11/technology/sam-bankman-fried-jail.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">he</a><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/11/technology/sam-bankman-fried-jail.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">l</a><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/11/technology/sam-bankman-fried-jail.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">d</a> at the Metropolitan Detention Center in New York following accusations of witness tampering. </p> 
<p>Although he was part of the decision-making at Alameda with Caroline Ellison for nearly a year, Trabucco’s decision to step down from his position mere months before Alameda and FTX came <a href="https://crypto.news/us-house-committee-to-probe-ftx-collapse-on-december-13-2022/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow">crashing</a> down seems to have saved him from legal trouble.&nbsp;</p> 
<p>He was not mentioned in any charges against the company and its top executives. He has also mostly stayed out of the public eye, with his last social media post being a tweet on Nov. 8, commiserating with people affected by the FTX collapse.</p> 
<p> Read more: <a href="https://crypto.news/sam-bankman-fried-to-face-trial-only-on-8-initial-charges/" rel="noopener noreferrer nofollow"> Sam Bankman-Fried to face trial only on 8 initial charges </a> </p>

FTX brass spent more than $2.5m in customer funds on a luxury yacht

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