Alameda Research head, Caroline Ellison, has retained a former SEC official, Stephanie Avakian, to represent her as US regulators are reportedly probing FTX and its affiliates, Bloomberg reports, citing people familiar with the matter.
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Avakian is said to be representing Ellison alongside other lawyers at WilmerHale, s an international law firm with a headquarter in Washington, DC. Prior to the law firm, she worked in the US Securities and Exchange Commission as an enforcement director for four years. On her position, Avakian oversaw cases against Ripple Labs, Robinhood Markets, General Electric and Tesla.
The move comes shortly after former CEO of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, also hired a defense attorney as US financial regulators are probing the crypto exchange. As per Bankman-Fried's spokesperson Mark Botnick, the failed crypto entrepreneur hired Mark Cohen, a former federal prosecutor.
Cohen represented Ghislaine Maxwell in her sex trafficking trial and Mexican former drug lord Joaquín "El Chapo" Guzmán. Alameda Research boss, Caroline Ellison, has also hired lawyers from Washington-based law firm Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale.
As iHodl earlier reported, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) alongside the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) are investigating FTX's relationships with Alameda Research, a trading firm also founded by Sam Bankman-Fried.
FTX filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the US in early November after it had faced a liquidity crisis. The Bahamas-based trading platform allegedly owes nearly $3.1 billion to top 50 creditors.
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