Defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX filed a lawsuit on Sept. 21 against former employees of the Hong Kong-incorporated company Salameda, which was previously affiliated with the FTX group, according to court documents.<\/p>\n
The court filing says FTX seeks to recover $157.3 million that it claims was fraudulently withdrawn in the hours before the exchange filed for bankruptcy.<\/p>\n
According to the filing, Michael Burgess, Matthew Burgess and their mother, Lesley Burgess, as well as Kevin Nguyen and Darren Wong, along with two other companies, allegedly held ownership of companies with registered accounts on FTX.com and FTX US and withdrew funds in the \u201cpreference period\u201d before FTX\u2019s bankruptcy filing. <\/p>\n
The court filing reads: <\/p>\n
\u201cEach of these transfers to Defendant Michael Burgess was made with the intent to hinder, delay or defraud FTX US\u2019s present or future creditors.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
It also highlights that these transfers were completed hours before FTX halted all non-fiat user withdrawals on Nov. 8, 2022.<\/p>\n
It alleges Mathew Burgess pressured FTX employees to \u201cpush out\u201d particular pending withdrawal requisitions \u201cfrom one of Michael Burgess\u2019s FTX US exchange accounts, while misrepresenting the account to be his own,\u201d citing messages on Slack as proof. <\/p>\n