When John J. Ray the Third took control of FTX in November 2022, he told the bankruptcy court he had never seen "such a complete failure of corporate controls." Expense requests were approved with emojis, there was no accurate list of bank accounts, and yet the company had clean audit opinions from two firms. This case file walks through FTX the way an auditor would: the related-party tie to Alameda Research, the missing daily reconciliations, the secret exemption from auto-liquidation, what the bankruptcy examiner found about the audits, and what the courts have decided so far, including the 25-year sentence the Second Circuit affirmed and the petition now pending at the Supreme Court.

Allegations are attributed to the agencies and officials that made them. General information, not financial advice.

Sources: Declaration of John J. Ray III, Doc 24, Case 22-11068 (D. Del., 17 Nov 2022). United States v. Bankman-Fried, No. 24-961 (2d Cir., 12 Jun 2026). Report of Examiner Robert J. Cleary, Doc 15545 (D. Del., 23 May 2024). USAO-SDNY press releases (22 Dec 2022; 2 Nov 2023). DOJ Office of Public Affairs press release (28 Mar 2024). SEC press releases 2022-219 and 2024-133. CFTC press releases 8638-22 and 8669-23. U.S. Supreme Court docket No. 26-349. Armanino LLP Preliminary Report, MDL 3076 (S.D. Fla.). Wirecard AG management board statement (22 Jun 2020).

Narrated with a synthetic AI voice; researched and fact-checked from public records.