John Ray, the man who took over at Enron after its collapse and is now in charge of FTX has blasted his predecessor at the failed crypto exchange, Sam Bankman-Fried, declaring in court filings that he has never "seen such a complete failure of corporate controls and such a complete absence of trustworthy financial information".
In a filing with the US Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, Ray, who has 40 years of legal and restructuring experience, lists a series of concerns.
"From compromised systems integrity and faulty regulatory oversight abroad, to the concentration of control in the hands of a very small group of inexperienced, unsophisticated and potentially compromised individuals, this situation is unprecedented," he writes.
Ray says he does "not have confidence" in the balance sheets of either FTX or its sister firm Almeda Research, noting that they were "unaudited and produced while the Debtors [FTX] were controlled by Mr. Bankman-Fried".
The company did not keep appropriate books for its digital assets and used unsecured shared email accounts to access private keys.
The new CEO also warns that a "substantial portion" of assets held with FTX may be "missing or stolen" and reveals that corporate funds were "used to purchase homes and other personal items for employees and advisors".
Meanwhile, Bankman-Fried has told Vox that he regrets the decision to file for bankruptcy, has slammed regulators, and suggested that his "effective altruism" was all just PR.
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