A former exchange official, ex-compliance chief Daniel Friedberg, has agreed to cooperate in a class action case against celebrities who allegedly marketed the now-bankrupt FTX.
According to the class action lawyers’ May 11 proposed amended complaint filed in a Florida District Court, Daniel Friedberg submitted evidence that FTX promotional activity originated in Florida.
Friedberg was the exchange’s chief regulatory officer as well as the chief compliance officer of FTX US. The declaration could potentially refute a key defense raised by some of the defendants, who claimed that the Miami court lacks jurisdiction and that the accusations are unrelated to Florida.
Friedberg testified in sworn testimony that FTX US’ vice president of business development, Avinash “Avi” Dabir, was based in Miami and was in charge of FTX brand ambassadors, including defendants in the case, such as former basketball player Shaquille O’Neal, comedian Larry David, retired NFL player Tom Brady, and FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried.
He stated that Dabir worked out of an FTX office in Miami “early in 2021.” According to the class action lawyers, this refutes the defendants’ arguments in their applications to dismiss.
Some of the alleged promoters stated that “no conspiracy could have been ‘engineered in Florida’ because FTX did not even plan to move to Miami until late September 2022” before entering into the purported promotional agreements.
The class action lawyers are using the additional information to alter their lawsuit to answer the defendants’ jurisdictional concerns. The court will evaluate the evidence.
The action was filed in mid-November, shortly after the exchange’s demise. Brady’s then-wife and model Gisele Bündchen, entrepreneur Kevin O’Leary, and basketball player Steph Curry and his team, the Golden State Warriors are among the alleged celebrity promoters.
On December 16, Friedberg was also listed as a defendant in an amended complaint.
The former compliance head is said to have assisted in previous legal procedures against the exchange for which he used to work.
The New York District Attorney’s Office, the Justice Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) allegedly obtained information regarding FTX from Friedberg a few weeks after the exchange went bankrupt.
