ChainCatcher News, President Trump has appointed Danielle Sassoon as the acting head of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, overseeing matters in Manhattan and the surrounding areas.Sassoon previously led the prosecution of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, which resulted in Bankman-Fried being sentenced to 25 years in prison. Additionally, she was involved in the Department of Justice's case against Terra founder Do Kwon.Sassoon graduated from Harvard University and Yale Law School, and she served as a clerk for the late Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. She will lead the Southern District Attorney's Office until the confirmation process for Trump's nominee, Jay Clayton, is completed.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, blockchain entrepreneur Michael Lewellen has filed a lawsuit against U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, seeking a court ruling that his upcoming crypto crowdfunding project Pharos does not violate unlicensed money transmission laws. Lewellen accuses the Department of Justice of prosecuting crypto software developers (such as Tornado Cash developer Roman Storm and Samourai Wallet co-founder Keonne Rodriguez) in violation of the First and Fifth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution, and contradicting the Department of Justice's previous public statements that developers are not considered money transmitters.Lewellen's project Pharos is an Ethereum-based crypto crowdfunding platform that uses smart contracts to ensure that projects that fail to secure funding automatically return funds and protect donor privacy.

ChainCatcher News: U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman announced that victims of business email compromise (BEC) who lost millions of dollars may be compensated due to the swift actions of the U.S. Secret Service and the asset forfeiture division of the U.S. Attorney's Office. In December 2023, a company engaged in real estate transactions reported that its system had been breached, with scammers stealing over $1 million by submitting fraudulent wire transfer instructions.Investigations revealed that at least ten other businesses or individuals were also victimized, with losses ranging from $75,000 to $425,000. The funds obtained from these scams were laundered through multiple bank accounts, some of which were held by "money mules," and were subsequently consolidated into a cryptocurrency wallet controlled by Nigerian scammers.Law enforcement acted quickly, seizing approximately 32.68 bitcoins from the scammers' cryptocurrency wallet, valued at around $900,000 at the time. The U.S. Attorney's Office subsequently filed a civil forfeiture lawsuit for the seized bitcoins. Since the seizure, the price of bitcoin has more than tripled. Due to the increase in bitcoin prices, ten victims who have filed claims may receive full compensation.

ChainCatcher news, according to Bloomberg, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams has revealed that he plans to resign before Donald Trump takes office in January next year, marking the end of his tenure in aggressively prosecuting Wall Street crimes.Previously, Trump announced last week that he would appoint Jay Clayton to replace Williams, who served as the chairman of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission until 2020. After Trump took office, Williams and many other U.S. attorneys appointed by President Biden across the country are almost certain to be replaced. Most other U.S. attorneys will continue to serve until they are formally asked to resign.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, Trump has nominated Bitcoin supporter Matt Gaetz as the U.S. Attorney General. He previously proposed a legislative bill on June 25, requesting the IRS to accept Bitcoin payments from Americans filing federal income tax.Trump's choice of Matt Gaetz could impact the crypto industry, as he is expected to advocate for a regulatory approach that supports digital asset innovation while balancing oversight.

ChainCatcher news, according to Fox Business reporter Eleanor Terrett, former U.S. Attorney General Paul Clement, who represented the Loper Bright side in the Supreme Court's Chevron case, has just submitted an amicus brief on behalf of the cryptocurrency industry against the Federal Reserve in the appeal case involving Custodia Bank (crypto-friendly regret).Clement, after recently successfully overturning the Chevron deference principle, raised a question in the submitted amicus brief regarding whether the Federal Reserve violated the Second Article of the U.S. Constitution by allowing the Federal Reserve Chair to make official decisions. This poses a significant challenge for Custodia, as it seeks court intervention to limit the excessive power of the U.S. central bank (which recently denied Custodia's request for access to a master account).Clement stated, "In short, the district court has granted the Federal Reserve Bank Chair such significant and almost unrestricted discretion, which raises serious constitutional questions about whether the Second Article is being violated." Clement essentially questioned whether the structure of the Federal Reserve is constitutional, which makes the significance of this case far beyond just the issue of Custodia Bank.

ChainCatcher news, prosecutors from the U.S. Southern District Court of New York involved in the FTX investigation have informed lawyers that the case is too large and may exhaust the court's resources. The criminal investigation into the fraudulent activities of the FTX exchange and its CEO SBF may be far more complex than lawmakers anticipated. According to FOX Business senior reporter Charles Gasparino, prosecutors have told various parties involved in the FTX investigation that it involves potential bribery, violations of campaign contributions, market manipulation, theft, and fraud. (source link)

ChainCatcher news, the plea agreement of former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York has been disclosed, including a $250,000 bail, surrender of travel documents, asset forfeiture, etc., which means Caroline Ellison will not be allowed to leave the United States.In addition, the plea agreement also reveals that if Caroline Ellison fully cooperates with the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York (SDNY) and any other law enforcement agencies designated by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York, she will not face further criminal prosecution, except for criminal tax violations related to wire and commodity fraud charges (due to the commingling of funds between FTX and Alameda, she may face lawsuits from other regulatory agencies).Earlier, ChainCatcher reported that the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced charges against Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang, both of whom have pleaded guilty to federal charges, with Caroline Ellison admitting to conspiracy to commit wire fraud against FTX customers, conspiracy to commit wire fraud against Alameda Research lenders, conspiracy to commit commodity fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering, among seven charges, which could result in a maximum sentence of 110 years in prison. (source link)

According to ChainCatcher news, citing new bankruptcy court documents reported by Bloomberg, FTX has appointed five new independent directors, including former U.S. District Court Judge Joseph J. Farnan Jr., who will serve as the chief independent director overseeing FTX Trading. The other four include Matthew A. Doheny from FTX Trading, Mitchell I. Sonkin from West Realm Shires, Matthew R. Rosenberg from Alameda Research, and Rishi Jain from Clifton Bay Investments.Additionally, FTX stated that it is in talks with the U.S. Attorney's Office and dozens of U.S. and international regulatory agencies, and has been in contact with authorities including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) over the past three days. (Bloomberg)