The donations were made by West Realm Shires Services, the company that runs the U.S. arm of bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX. According to court documents, West Realm Shires Services donated $300,000 to the museum in March 2022 and received an additional donation of $250,000 in May.
After the collapse of FTX, the exchange’s founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, was charged with a range of financial crimes, from fraud to money laundering, of which he pleaded not guilty. He is accused of misappropriating billions of dollars in client funds to buy private real estate, donate to political campaigns and support his hedge fund, Alameda Research.
In May, the U.S. Justice Department sent letters to members of Congress asking them to voluntarily return funds received from FTX. Back in February, FTX Group sent letters to politicians demanding the return of tens of millions of dollars they received from the cryptocurrency exchange as donations. According to reports in the U.S. media, the amount involved could be as much as $93 million;
However, there are also politicians who have said they have already donated to charity. In response, the bankruptcy managers of FTX warned: the lawyers will do everything to return the funds.