Sam Bankman-Fried’s brother wanted to buy Nauru with FTX money to build an apocalypse bunker, according to a new lawsuit

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried Michael M Santiago — Getty Images

Sam Bankman-Fried’s brother wanted to use FTX to buy the island of Nauru and make a hideout for him and other “instrumentalists” could live out the end of the world in style.

The Gaby Island dream is one of the more eye-catching revelations to surface in a series of lawsuits brought by the FTX ownership to recover hundreds of millions of FTX dollars from the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto empire – money the property claims fraudulently appropriated money for clients.

In its latest lawsuit filed in Delaware bankruptcy court Thursday, the FTX estate — led by former Enron bankruptcy agent John Ray — is seeking 48 counts of fraudulent transfer of funds by two former FTX executives: Bankman-Fried, CTO Gary Wang, Chief Engineering Officer Nishad Singh, and Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison.

The lawsuit includes previous allegations about how executives used FTX windfalls – including that Bankman-Fried used clients’ money to finance His own defense — and so do the new claims of his extravagant spending.

‘Misleading and Sometimes Miserable’ FTX Projects

In one, bankruptcy estate attorneys detail how the executives set up a charitable foundation called the FTX Foundation that “serves little purpose other than to enhance the public standing of the defendants,” claiming that it receives grants directly from bank accounts containing clients’ money.

The lawsuit calls FTX’s projects “often misguided and sometimes miserable,” including a $30,000 grant to an individual to write a book on how to discover “human utility functions.”

Another $400,000 grant went to an entity that produced animated videos for YouTube about effective altruism, a philosophical movement popular among FTX executives that seeks to increase social impact through charitable giving and other lifestyle choices.

Before the collapse of FTX, Bankman-Fried was a major donor to political and social causes, often working with his brother, Gabriel Bankman Frieda former Democratic staffer and founder of an advocacy organization called Guardian Against Pandemics.

According to the The New York Times , gap Starch Over $22 million in its first year in 2021, most of which came from Sam Bankman-Fried, making it an instant lobbying force. The lawsuit alleges that Sam Bankman-Fried funneled at least $35 million to GAP, most of which came from Alameda accounts containing clients’ funds commingled.

Jabi Island

Then there is Jabi Island.

In the lawsuit, the lawyers cited a memo between Gabe Bankman-Fried and an FTX official where he described a plan to buy Nauru, a tiny nation-state island in Micronesia.

The goal, according to the memo, is to build a bunker that can be used if “50%-99.99% of people die,” with the goal of ensuring the survival of most EAs, or effective altruists, as well as developing “reasonable regulation around human genetic improvement, and building a laboratory there.”

The memo also notes that “there are likely to be other useful things to do with a sovereign country as well.”

The FTX estate is seeking the return of all property that was subject to the fraudulent transfers alleged in the lawsuit, as well as monetary damages, though it did not specify an amount.

Sam Bankman-Fried is awaiting criminal trial in the Southern District of New York, which is expected to begin in October. Gary Wang, Nishad Singh, and Caroline Ellison have all pleaded guilty to criminal charges and are involved with the Department of Justice.

Prosecutors have not charged Gabe Bankman-Fried with any wrongdoing in the FTX collapse.