Embattled FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has staved off a case alleging he broke Texas securities laws, after a judge ruled that the state regulator lacks jurisdiction to act against him, Bloomberg News reported. The ruling came in a case brought by the Texas State Securities Board claiming Bankman-Fried offered unregistered securities through FTX’s yield-bearing cryptocurrency accounts and that he now owes refunds to Texas investors. Administrative Law Judge Sarah Starnes has canceled a Thursday hearing at which Bankman-Fried had been ordered to testify and has given the securities agency until March 1 to file an amended complaint. Joe Rotunda, the agency’s director of enforcement, didn’t return messages seeking comment on the ruling, and it isn’t clear whether he will refile. But the case reflects the early efforts some states are making to recover money from FTX and Bankman-Fried in the wake of the crypto exchange’s implosion in November. The obstacles: a criminal fraud prosecution of Bankman-Fried and a sprawling FTX bankruptcy case.
