A class-action lawsuit against the bank in federal court in New York was filed by companies of the Statistica group involved in investment management and cryptocurrency trading. The lawsuit alleges that Signature Bank “had factual knowledge of the FTX fraud and materially facilitated the fraud of the crypto exchange” since June 2020.
Signature also “did not close, suspend, or otherwise limit” the accounts of FTX and Alameda Research, owned by former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, according to the lawsuit.
“In particular, Signature knew and permitted the mixing of FTX customer funds on its own payment network based on the Signet blockchain,” the plaintiffs insist.
Bankman-Fried himself is now under investigation.. The businessman is charged with eight criminal offenses, including wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy.
The former head of FTX was recently released on $250 million bail.