FTX's Bankman-Fried hires white collar defense attorney Mark Cohen NEW YORK Reuters - FTX founder and former chief executive Sam Bankman-Fried has hired former prosecutor Mark S. Cohen to represent him, as U.S. authorities investigate the collapse of the exchange's currency, a spokeswoman for Bankman-Fried said on Tuesday.
The role of FTX's top executives including Bankman-Fried in the firm's collapse is being investigated by regulators around the world, including in the Bahamas where FTX is based and in the United States. The exchange filed for bankruptcy last month because of the liquidity crisis that saw at least $1 billion of customer funds disappear.
Bankman- Fried retained Cohen, a Cohen Gresser spokesman, Mark Botnick, Bankman-Fried's spokeswoman said in an emailed statement. Cohen could not be reached for comment.
The Prosecutors and regulators have not charged Bankman- Fried with wrongdoing. He is facing civil lawsuits from investors and FTX customers.
David Mills, a professor at Stanford Law School, is consulting on the matter, Botnick said. Mills did not respond to requests for comment. Mills' advisory work for Bankman- Fried was previously reported by Semafor.
Cohen, a former assistant U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, recently defended Ghislaine Maxwell in her sex trafficking trial.
Bankman- Fried had previously hired Martin Flumenbaum of law firm Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton Garrison, but the law firm said last month it was no longer representing him due to conflicts.
The U.S. authorities have sought information from investors and potential investors in FTX in recent weeks, according to two sources with knowledge of the requests. Federal prosecutors in New York are asking for details on any communications that firms have had with the firm's executives, including Bankman-Fried, according to the sources. Information requests were previously reported by Bloomberg.
One of the sources said that the Securities and Exchange Commission has been asking for similar information from investors.
The sources and attorneys have said that the U.S. authorities are looking for any evidence of material misrepresentations of information to investors.
Spokespeople for the Manhattan U.S. attorney's office and the SEC didn't want to comment on the information request.
FTX secretly transferred customer funds to its affiliate Alameda Research in order to fill a shortfall at the trading firm, according to a report by Reuters.
On Wednesday, Bankman-Fried said he did not knowingly commingle customer funds on FTX with funds at his proprietary trading firm, Alameda Research, via a video link at the New York Times' Dealbook Summit with Andrew Ross Sorkin.
Bankman- Fried said he didn't think he has any criminal liability and that he didn't try to commit fraud.