Stanford to return millions in FTX donations amid lawsuit alleging misuse by SBF’s parents

Stanford University plans to return millions of dollars it received from the now-bankrupt crypto exchange FTX and its affiliate companies, according to Bloomberg,

This decision comes amidst a lawsuit from FTX advisers seeking to reclaim funds owed to the exchange’s customers. The lawsuit alleges that Allan Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, parents of FTX co-founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, exploited their influence over FTX to directly and indirectly enrich themselves with millions of dollars. Bankman and Fried are legal scholars and longtime professors at Stanford Law School.

The lawsuit explicitly alleges that Stanford received gifts totaling approximately $5.5 million from FTX-related entities between Nov. 2021 and May 2022. A university spokesperson told Bloomberg, “Stanford received gifts from the FTX Foundation and FTX-related companies largely for pandemic-related prevention and research.”

Legal representatives for Bankman and Fried firmly refute the allegations, branding them as “completely false.” Specifically, Sean Hecker, counsel for Joe Bankman, and Michael Tremonte, counsel for Barbara Fried, told CryptoSlate that

“These claims are completely false. Mr. Ray and his massive team of lawyers, who are collectively running up countless millions of dollars in fees while returning relatively little to FTX clients, know better.”

Further, they stated that the suit was “a dangerous attempt to intimidate” SBF’s parents and “undermine the jury process just days before their child’s trial begins.”

Stanford University’s move to return the donated funds mentioned in the suit represents an attempt to maintain ethical standards amidst the tumultuous landscape.

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