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On behalf of Voyager Digital, law firm Kirkland and Ellis issued a subpoena to FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried and top executives on February 6, 2023. The subpoena demanded that they turn over documents and communications about the “Alameda Loan Agreement” between Alameda Ventures and Voyager, as well as other essential documents.Â
Additionally, Voyager Digital has subpoenaed Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research, Gary Wang, the co-founder of FTX, and Ramnik Arora, the former head of product and investor relations at FTX.
These actions come just a week after FTX filed a separate lawsuit against Voyager Digital seeking $445.8 million in loan repayments made before FTX’s bankruptcy in November of last year.
FTX trial to rescue Voyager Digital
Last year, FTX US attempted to save Voyager Digital, a centralized crypto exchange with 3.5 million clients and $1.3 billion in assets that went insolvent in July 2022. According to Bankman-Fried, the deal would offer liquidity to clients whose money has been blocked because of Voyager’s credit constraint.
In October 2022, however, the settlement became complicated when the Texas Security Board objected to the transaction, claiming that FTX was not registered with the Texas Department of Banking as a money transmitter or in any other capacity.
In the lawsuit, the lawyers for Voyager also want all documents related to the fraud case being looked into by the Department of Justice and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Both of these investigations have been put on hold until the criminal trial for FTX is over.
Legal power demands information.
The jurisdictional request documents related to Ellison Admissions, Wang Admissions, and Voyager’s attorneys’ request for access to records about the new FTX CEO, John J. Ray III, and his affirmation. Text messages, Slack messages, Telegram messages, and Signal messages exchanged between these individuals are also requested. Finally, communications regarding Bankman-Twitter Fried’s exchange with Binance founder Changpeng Zhao (CZ) on July 24, 2022.
Following its demise, FTX agreed to pay Voyager $1.42 billion to acquire its clientele and make them whole. The investors were to receive an 8% premium over the assets’ market value in their accounts before being converted into FTX US customers. Voyager’s legal team has asked for all “FTX-related entities’ trading logs related to any way the VGX token” from April 11, 2019, to November 11, 2022.
