According to new reports, mysterious Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison has appointed a former SEC official as her attorney to represent her in an ongoing federal investigation.
Alameda CEO hires former SEC official as attorney in FTX investigation
Former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison has hired a former SEC official to represent her in the ongoing federal investigation into the FTX collapse, Bloomberg News reports. Stephanie Avakian, a former enforcement division chief with the SEC, will now represent Ellison along with other attorneys. Sources say a spokesperson for the law firm declined to comment.
Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison was remembered with her tweets about the FTT Token in the FTX collapse. In the first days of the collapse, Binance CEO CZ had a show on Twitter. Saying that he would sell the FTT Tokens he had, he wrote to CZ, “We are ready to buy them all for $22”.
@cz_binance if you're looking to minimize the market impact on your FTT sales, Alameda will happily buy it all from you today at $22!
— Caroline (@carolinecapital) November 6, 2022
Ellison’s new attorney, Stephanie Avakian, served a total of four years as executive director with the SEC before joining Washington DC-based law firm WilmerHale in 2020. During this time she was also the assistant principal officer. One of the cases the lawyer has previously reviewed is the company Ripple, which the SEC accuses of fraudulently obtaining $1.3 billion. Outside of the cryptocurrency industry, he was responsible for overseeing sanctions against Twitter’s new owner, Elon Musk. She is also known for her lawsuits against General Electric and Robinhood Markets.
Caroline Ellison was one of the active figures in the crisis
The Alameda CEO had a low profile even before the collapse of FTX. Meanwhile, her father is in close contact with SEC Chairman Gary Gensler. Glenn Ellison heads the economics department at MIT, the same university where Gensler taught. The close relationship of the two brought up some speculations about the rise of FTX. Ellison’s inability to stand behind his $22 purchase offer was one of the developments that led to loss of confidence.
SBF blames Alameda Research for bankruptcy
Alameda Research is a subsidiary of crypto exchange FTX. The real reason for the crisis in November was the discovery that they had a large amount of FTT Tokens in their reserves. The two companies were inflating their market values with their manipulation on FTT. Former FTX CEO SBF blames Alameda in several interviews with the media.
In turn, Ellison is negotiating with the relevant authorities for a cooperation agreement. Until now, he kept his silence despite all the statements of the SBF. Meanwhile, the SBF says it is ready to answer before a US judge in the near future. cryptocoin.comAs you follow, he recently announced on Twitter that he is willing to testify at a hearing held by the United States.
