Ryan Salame, the former co-chief executive of FTX Digital Markets, has consented to give up his multimillion-dollar Bahamas property as part of a plea deal in a criminal prosecution.
Ryan Salame has consented to surrender his $5.9 million Bahamas home, per a request filed on May 1 with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware by FTX Trading Ltd and other debtors.
In September 2023, Salame entered a guilty plea to criminal charges, with the condition of his plea agreement being that he repay the debtors $5.6 million.
Salame suggests giving FTX Digital Markets Ltd. ownership of a house as payment for the reparation rather than making a monetary payment.
Unit No. 3A in the Marina Residences at Albany Building 10 Condominium, which Salame owns in the Bahamas, will be transferred to FTX DM in order to satisfy the Restitution Amount, according to the petition.
The debtors contended that this serves their best interests since it keeps Salame from having to sell the house soon and at a loss, which may have an adverse effect on their capacity to get money from other Bahamas assets.
Realtors in the Bahamas stated that there had been a 25% decline in high-end sales volumes in 2023. In the meantime, Australian real estate company Properstar revealed that during the previous 12 months, apartment prices had decreased by 28%.
Salame was accused of conspiring to run an unlicensed money-transmitting business and to make illegal political contributions and deceive the Federal Election Commission.
According to the petition, Salame also committed to pay $7.2 million for the property in September 2021, and the 10% down payment came from a Silvergate Bank account owned by Alameda Research.
To cover the remaining purchase price, Salame's real estate lawyer received a $8.1 million wire transfer from FTX DM's bank account at Fidelity Bank in the Bahamas in November of that year.
Salame and Alameda signed a promissory note in March 2022, in which Salame promised to give Alameda the $8.1 million. But in early November 2022, FTX and Alameda collapsed, and shortly after, bankruptcy papers were made.
The current date of Salame's sentencing is May 28, 2024. Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of FTX, received a 25-year prison term in late March.
May 2024, Cryptoniteuae