FTX Foundation Member Denies Involvement In SBF Fraud, Insists on Unpaid Bonus

Ross Rheingans-Yoo, an employee of FTX Foundation has filed a response to FTX’s claim regarding his unpaid salaries and bonuses totaling $275,000.

In a Nov 13 court filing, the foundation staff argued that he was entitled to $650,000 but was only paid $375,000 leaving an unpaid balance of $275,000 from his 2022 salary.

According to the filing, he argues that the money was due before the exchange filed for bankruptcy in 2022 after its infamous collapse which led to widespread losses.

Yoo, through his legal representatives, denied all allegations pointing to his involvement in Sam Bankman-Fried crimes as he claimed he was not a part of the inner circle and was not aware of anything. 

This comes after the exchange sued Yoo and others to recover over $75 million it claimed benefited the defendants without FTX and Alameda Research. Denying all allegations, he added that Latona, the company in question, was a registered non-profit under the law. 

“Rheingans-Yoo was not part of Bankman-Fried’s inner circle who knew about and facilitated the misappropriation of FTX customer funds. During Bankman-Fried’s criminal trial, none of the testimony implicated Rheingans-Yoo. Instead, Rheingans-Yoo was a faithful employee who found himself in a mess he did not create.”

No breach of employment term, Yoo claims 

His legal representatives alleged an unfair treatment of their client stating that he acted bona fide as a Latona director without more and the plaintiffs were fully aware but continued to ride on the unpopularity of Bankman-Fried.

Furthermore, they claimed that arguments seeking to disqualify him from his unpaid salaries because of a breach of an employment contract do not apply as Yoo was employed by FTX and never complained of any breach through his time with the company thereby barring them from doing so now.

Per the filing, he shared a document of his initial terms which included a $100,000 base salary, and is entitled to $5,700 and $62,800 as pre-petition salary and post-petition salary payments.

FTX fight back compounds Yoo’s issues

While Yoo claims unpaid salaries and bonuses for his time at FTX Foundation, the company claims he was aware of certain developments and acted fraudulently in donations to several life science companies. 

💰 @FTX_Official and Alameda seek to retrieve $71 million from Philanthropic and Life Science Entities.#CryptoNews https://t.co/GpDQR2hwva

— Cryptonews.com (@cryptonews) July 21, 2023

The company sued Woo and others for aiding and abetting the actions of Bankman-Fried in transferring assets to certain companies.

“The Complaint alleges, among other things, that Rheingans-Yoo, at Bankman-Fried’s direction, caused FTX and Alameda to make fraudulent transfers to the Lifesciences Defendants to fund Latona’s investments in the Lifesciences Defendants.”

They also alleged a breach in employment contracts stating that the terms stipulate employment as a “Trader and Investment Associate” adding that there is no evidence pointing to the performance of such for the company. 

Certain analysts also believe he has been paid in full since he chose to partial repayment via options in affiliates before the exchange filed for bankruptcy.