ComChest looking to return $360,000 donation from now bankrupt crypto exchange FTX

SINGAPORE – The Community Chest (ComChest) is looking to return a $360,000 donation it received in 2022 from the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX’s philanthropic arm, FTX Foundation, its spokesman said on Monday.

ComChest has filed a suspicious transaction report with the police, and intends to return the donated amount through the appropriate legal mechanism, its spokesman told The Straits Times, without giving more details.

The donation had been made in support of the President’s Challenge and ComChest through the Sentosa Golden Jubilee Charity Golf event held in August 2022.

ComChest, the fund-raising arm of the National Council of Social Service, said the money has been disbursed to social service agencies, but these disbursements will not be affected.

It added that it has been monitoring the situation for further developments in consultation with its legal advisers.

ComChest had told ST in 2022 that FTX Foundation was a new donor, and the donation was received in full before the event.

FTX’s former chief operating officer Constance Wang also posted on social media in August 2022 that it was her great pleasure to represent the firm for the charity golf event.

In December 2022, prosecutors

charged FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried

with orchestrating a scheme to steal as much as US$10 billion (S$13.7 billion) from FTX clients. The money was spent on luxury properties, political and other donations, and to prop up his hedge fund, Alameda Research, among other things.

Bankman-Fried has been on trial in New York City since early October for seven counts of fraud, conspiracy and money laundering, which he

has pleaded not guilty to.

Before FTX’s collapse, Bankman-Fried and his associates were the darlings of the philanthropic world, and FTX Foundation was reported to have donated close to US$200 million to a host of political and charitable causes.

In November 2022, FTX – which was one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges – experienced the cryptocurrency equivalent of a bank run when its clients wanted to withdraw an estimated US$6 billion over three days.

It

faced a liquidity crunch and declared bankruptcy.

After its bankruptcy, FTX and its creditors have been trying to claw back donations made by its former management. 

Various charities, politicians and political groups in the United States have returned the donations. They include the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, which said in May that it plans to return US$550,000 it received from FTX to its creditors.

In a separate development, both ComChest and the President’s Challenge on Oct 11 disclosed donations

made by individuals whose names are similar to those charged in Singapore’s largest money laundering case.

ComChest received $30,000, while the President’s Challenge – which was started by former president S R Nathan in 2000 to help the less fortunate – received more than $350,000.

Both said they have filed police reports and suspicious transaction reports about these donations, and are working with the Commissioner of Charities on how to handle the donations.

They also said donations that have been disbursed to benefiting agencies will not be affected.

Ten individuals, who were all originally from China,

were charged in August

with offences including money laundering, forgery and resisting arrest. The value of assets seized or frozen has added up to more than $2.8 billion.

In Parliament on Oct 3, Second Minister for Home Affairs Josephine Teo said

that some of those arrested had donated to charities here.

 She said some of the charities have ring-fenced these donations, while others have lodged police reports and planned to surrender the money to the police.