Lev Radin/Pacific Press/LightRocket via Getty Images
- Sam Bankman-Fried sent $400 million to Modulo Capital, an obscure crypto trading firm.
- One of the founders was once romantically involved with Bankman-Fried, per the New York Times.
- Another, the Times said, was just two years out of college.
The founders of an obscure crypto-trading firm given $400 million by Sam Bankman-Fried had close ties to the FTX founder, according to the New York Times.
Modulo Capital was founded in March 2022, before receiving one of Bankman-Fried's largest investments and drawing the attention of investigators.
A spreadsheet shared by the Financial Times in December 2022 showed that Alameda Research, the trading firm cofounded by Bankman-Fried, invested two separate sums in Modulo — $250 million and $150 million.
The $400 million was given in the third and fourth quarters of 2022, documents from lawyers handling FTX's bankruptcy reviewed by Insider show.
One of Modulo's founders, Xiaoyun "Lily" Zhang, used to be romantically involved with Bankman-Fried, according to four people familiar with their relationship who spoke to the Times.
Her cofounder, Duncan Rheingans-Yoo, had only graduated from Harvard two years before SBF's investment, the Times added.
CoinDesk first reported that Modulo's founders used to work at Jane Street Capital, the trading firm where Bankman-Fried began his career, but didn't publish their identities.
Zhang spent a decade at Jane Street, three years of which coincided with SBF's tenure, while Rheingans-Yoo joined in 2020, per the Times.
Modulo operated out of the Albany Resort, the same luxury complex where SBF lived, according to CoinDesk. Bankman-Fried lived in a $30 million penthouse at the resort, but other FTX employees stayed in condos or villas rented by the company.
Court documents reviewed by Insider show that FTX spent $5.8 million at the Albany in nine months up to September 2022. In 2021, one of the resort's founders told Fortune that, in high season, it could cost up to $60,000 a night to stay there.
Lawyers for FTX's new leadership are currently searching for assets which could be used to reimburse customers of the bankrupt exchange.
Federal prosecutors have already seized over $500 million from Bankman-Fried, including $50 million kept in the tiny Farmington State Bank, but they're still searching for more.
Modulo's founders have not been accused of any wrongdoing, but recently hired a criminal defense lawyer who is a former director of enforcement for the CFTC, the Times reported.
Representatives for Modulo and Bankman-Fried did not respond to Insider's request for comment.