Shaquille O’Neal was once again served with a legal complaint over the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX. He was served papers while covering an NBA Playoff game at an arena in Miami that ironically used to be named FTX Arena. People Magazine reported that attorney Adam Moskowitz filmed O’Neal being served to remove ambiguity as court records indicate that O'Neal has not responded to past summons.
O’Neal was at the arena Tuesday while working for the broadcast on TNT.
O’Neal was among a number of celebrities to endorse FTX before its sudden collapse in late 2022. O'Neal appeared in advertisements for FTX and tweeted about the company.
FTX founder Samuel Bankman-Fried was indicted by federal officials for fraud, money laundering and campaign finance offenses.
Attorney General Merrick Garland accused Bankman-Fried of perpetrating offenses in a “global scheme to deceive and defraud customers and lenders of FTX.” He allegedly used billions of dollars in customers’ funds for personal use, to invest in political campaigns, and to repay loans owed by Alameda Research, a crypto hedge fund he founded.
The Moskowitz Law Firm is handling several crypto-related class action lawsuits, including one against FTX insiders. The suit names Bankman-Fried and brand ambassadors Larry David, a comedian, and Kevin O’Leary, investor on the ABC show “Shark Tank.”
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried seeks dismissal of indictment
His lawyers said the U.S. government had a "dramatic — and troubling" response to a broad market crash in cryptocurrency last year.
Other athletes have been summoned, including Tom Brady, Stephen Curry, Udonis Haslem, Trevor Lawrence, Shohei Ohtani, David Ortiz and Naomi Osaka.
The summons requires those served to issue a response within 21 days
Some of those served filed a response saying they should not be parties to the suit.
“Plaintiffs do not allege any Movant ever even mentioned yield barring accounts — let alone encouraged any plaintiff to deposit funds into them — nor do they allege that any Movant played any role in the subsequent alleged losses of funds from those accounts — allegedly caused by FTX’s misappropriation and mismanagement,” the response says.
