FTX Foundation employee Ross Rheingans-Yoo said he was not part of Sam Bankman-Fried’s “inner circle” and knew nothing about FTX’s fraud.
An employee of FTX’s charity wing recruited by FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried is trying to get paid $275,000, the remainder of his claimed 2022 salary bonus.
Ross Rheingans-Yoo’s lawyers argued in a Nov. 13 court filing that only $375,000 of his $650,000 bonus was paid by FTX. They claim the remaining funds were owed when the crypto exchange filed for bankruptcy in November 2022.
Rheingans-Yoo’s latest filing comes in response to FTX’s objection filed on Oct. 30.
Rheingans-Yoo shared part of a Google Doc created by Bankman-Fried that laid out his employment terms at the FTX Foundation, which came with a $100,000 base salary. He claimed Bankman-Fried told him in a memo.
Rheingans-Yoo iterated he was not part of Bankman-Fried’s “inner circle” and wasn’t aware that FTX misappropriated customer funds, with his lawyers adding:
FTX seeks to recover through avoidance of transfers of $71.5m from
Life Sciences, Lumen Bioscience, GreenLight Biosciences Holdings, PBC, Riboscience, Genetic Networks, 4J Therapeutics, Latona Biosciences, FTX Foundation, SBF, Ross Rheingans-Yoo and Nicholas Beckstead pic.twitter.com/T7lF3sZmzN
— Sunil (FTX Creditor Champion) (@sunil_trades) July 20, 2023
The crypto exchange claims Rheingans-Yoo and Bankman-Fried personally benefited from the investments and donations, but FTX and Alameda Research did not.
“Each of these transfers was made with the intent to hinder, delay, or defraud present or future creditors, a fact known by the FTX Foundation, Latona, and Bankman-Fried.”
Rheingans-Yoo claims his work at Latona, which involved analyzing potential recipients, speaking with their founders and executives, and conducting due diligence, would’ve produced “positive results for society.”