Beleaguered crypto exchange FTX, alongside some senior executives, reportedly purchased luxury properties worth millions of dollars in the Bahamas before the company’s sudden collapse earlier this month.
According to the report, Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto empire acquired 19 properties worth around $121 million on the Caribbean island within the past two years.
Luxury Beachfront Homes
The company’s property records show that the firm acquired luxury beachfront homes, including seven condominiums on the scenic island of New Providence in the Bahamas called Albany.
The properties cost a whopping sum of $72 million and were reserved for an undisclosed company executive, whom Reuters referred to as an “important key personnel ” of the firm.
The document also revealed Bankman-Fried’s parents, Stanford University law professors Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, signatures on an expensive home in Old Fort Bay, a secluded community that served as home to a British colonial fort. The house was built in the 1700s to protect the residents against pirates.
According to one of the documents dated June 15, the apartment was reserved as a vacation home.
However, an FTX spokesperson noted that Mr and Mrs Bankman and Fried had been seeking to return the house deeds to the company since its bankruptcy saga started.
Recall that the exchange, alongside its affiliates, started filing for bankruptcy after its rival firm, Binance backed out of its buyout deal due to regulatory concerns.
FTX Provided in-House Services to Employees
The property records also showed that FTX Property Holdings, a division of the fallen crypto exchange, bought properties worth close to $100 million between 2021 and 2022.
Its most expensive acquisitions were a penthouse at Albany purchased on March 17 for $30 million. Ryan Salame, the head of FTX Property Holdings, signed the deeds of the penthouse.
Just like the beachfront home, the penthouse was also reserved for undisclosed top personnel at the firm.
The company also acquired other high-end real estate properties, including three condominiums at One Cable Beach in New Providence. The records also showed that the apartments cost between $950,000 and $2 million and were purchased by Nishad Singh, the former head of engineering at FTX, Gary Wang, an FTX co-founder, and Bankman-Fried for residential purposes.
Meanwhile, SBF told Reuters he lived with nine colleagues in his home, and FTX provided free meals and in-house transportation around the islands for its employees.
