Sam Bankman-Fried, the former chief executive of FTX, could face a subpoena to testify in two congressional hearings, committee chair of the United States House Financial Services Maxine Waters tweeted on Thursday.
She refuted in her recent Twitter post rumours she did not plan to force the disgraced executive to testify at a House Committee hearing, but preferred he voluntarily come forward to testify, she said.
Lies are circulating @CNBC that I am not willing to subpoena @SBF_FTX. He has been requested to testify at the December 13th hearing. A subpoena is definitely on the table. Stay tuned.
— Maxine Waters (@RepMaxineWaters) December 8, 2022
Waters wrote at the time that “lies are circulating” and that a “subpoena is definitely on the table,” just days before the hearing is set to take place on 13 December.
The “Investigating the Collapse of FTX” hearings come amid a series of hearings to probe the circumstances on the exchange’s bankruptcy and will include testimonies from Binance, FTX, and Alameda Research companies.
Ghost Mode?
The news comes after she requested Bankman-Fried to attend the inquiry in a 3 December Twitter post. The former FTX chief rejected the invitation the following day, stating he would not appear until he was “finished learning and reviewing what happened.”
He added he was “not sure” if it would take place before the hearing, making the statement shortly after joining several interviews in the media.
Waters hit back, urging Bankman-Fried on 5 December to attend due to his media appearances, stating his public comments were “sufficient for testimony.”
.@SBF_FTX, we appreciate that you’ve been candid in your discussions about what happened at #FTX. Your willingness to talk to the public will help the company’s customers, investors, and others. To that end, we would welcome your participation in our hearing on the 13th.
— Maxine Waters (@RepMaxineWaters) December 2, 2022
She continued: “It is imperative that you attend our hearing. [The Committee is] willing to schedule continued hearings if there is more information to be shared later.”
What Would a Subpoena Do?
Should the US Government force the former FTX executive to testify, courts would hold him in Contempt of Congress, earning him up to 12 months in prison and a $100,000 penalty.
A further Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs hearing is set to take place on 14 December.
In a letter this week, Senate Banking Committee chair Sherrod Brown cautioned Bankman-Fried,
“You must answer for the failure of both entities that was caused, at least in part, by the clear misuse of client funds and wiped out billions of dollars owed to over a million creditors. There are still significant unanswered questions about how client funds were misappropriated, how clients were blocked from withdrawing their own money, and how you orchestrated a cover-up.”
Letting Big Tech and other companies operate banks—without proper oversight—will open doors for predatory lending and invasions of your privacy.
— Sherrod Brown (@SenSherrodBrown) December 6, 2022
That’s why I introduced the Close the Shadow Banking Loophole Act—to protect your pocketbooks and our banking system. https://t.co/3ASxlmJa0q
Brown has also launched a crackdown on tech firms operating “without proper oversight,” leading to his Close the Shadow Banking Loophole Act, which multiple officials and media have slammed as a form of shadow banking.
