- A former FTX employee says he is owed hundreds of thousands of dollars by the company, which collapsed last November
- Ross Rheingans-Yoo said he was recruited by Sam Bankman-Fried to run parts of the company’s charity arm
- He has denied knowledge of the massive fraud at the company for which Bankman-Fried was recently convicted
A former FTX employee claims he is owed $275,000 of a bonus that was never paid to him after he denied knowing anything about the massive fraud at the company.
Ross Rheingans-Yoo, a former Jane Street trader who was recruited by Sam Bankman-Fried to join the crypto company, says he is owed hundreds of thousands of dollars, court documents show.
In early 2022, Rheingans-Yoo was taken over by Bankman-Fried as FTX’s head of charities.
He was told that he would serve as the FTX Foundation’s program director and receive a base salary of $100,000, which he confirmed. He was reportedly paid about $375,000 before the company’s implosion.
He said the terms of his employment were negotiated through a Google Doc by Bankman-Fried at the time of his hiring.
Ross Rheingans-Yoo, a former FTX employee, is suing the company’s remnants for hundreds of thousands of dollars in bonuses
Rheingans-Yoo claims he was recruited to FTX from his job at Jane Street, where Bankman-Fried previously worked
Earlier this year, FTX’s new management claimed that Rheingans-Yoo aided and abetted the disgraced company boss while working with FTX’s nonprofit arm.
In an affidavit, Rheingans-Yoo denied the allegations, saying: “I was not part of Bankman-Fried’s inner circle who knew about and enabled the misappropriation of FTX customer funds.”
“I had no knowledge of Bankman-Fried’s fraud. I did not facilitate his breach of fiduciary duty to the debtors.”
The former employee has now become part of the larger web of legal efforts undertaken by FTX’s bankruptcy team to recover around $71.5 million in funds that they believe came from the exchange’s non-profit organization – the FTX Foundation – and the non-profit company run by Rheingans. Yoo called Latona Bioscience Group.
The company’s bankruptcy advisers alleged in July that Latona was a “sham” nonprofit that, along with the FTX Foundation, made investments and donations to life sciences companies “for the personal gain of Bankman-Fried.”
Rheingans-Yoo denied the accusations that Latona was not real, claiming that it was an organized non-profit organization funded through intercompany loan agreements with Alameda Reserach – FTX’s sister trading arm.
He said his duties also include researching charities that have a positive impact on society. His lawyers say he took the role seriously and met with potential recipients.
In addition to his remaining bonus, Rheingans-Yoo is asking for $650,000 in so-called “Foundation Direction Units,” which he says he will donate to charity.
However, FTX advisors said the petitioner’s belief that he is entitled to $275,000 “is without merit and should be rejected.”
Rheingans-Yoo (seen here in a video filmed a few years ago) was tasked with running FTX’s charity arm and selecting life sciences companies to invest in
Bankman-Fried was convicted a few weeks ago on seven federal fraud charges related to the collapse of FTX and the loss of billions of dollars in customer funds
He denies any knowledge of the fraud committed by Bankman-Fried
FTX advisors claim that Rheingans-Yoo has already paid out his bonus because, before the crypto company’s bankruptcy filing, he decided to have the amount repaid partially through options at the crypto company’s corporate branch – Rheingans-Yoo has rejected the claim.
Whether Rheingans-Yoo is entitled to compensation from the failed company will be decided by the Delaware bankruptcy judge overseeing FTX’s Chapter 11 case.
Earlier this month, Bankman-Fried — who also previously worked at Jane Street — was convicted of seven federal fraud counts that culminated in the company’s collapse.