An investor in the imploding cryptocurrency exchange FTX filed what could become a class-action lawsuit against the company, and the lawsuit names some of the cryptocurrency exchange’s celebrity backers, including football player Tom Brady, Brazilian supermodel Gissele Bundchen, basketball player Steph Curry and “Shark Tank” host Kevin O’Leary.
FTX investor Edwin Garrison filed a lawsuit on Tuesday against founder and former CEO of FTX Sam Bankman-Fried. In addition to Bankman-Fried, Garrison’s proposed class-action lawsuit goes after Brady, Curry and other high-profile celebrities who endorsed the crypto exchange, which is now bankrupt.
In addition to naming Curry, the lawsuit also names his entire NBA team, the Golden State Warriors, who advertised for FTX in their arena.
Other celebrities listed as defendants are former basketball player Shaquille O’Neal, current basketballers Udonis Haslem, football player William Trevor Lawrence, former baseball player David Ortiz, current baseball player Shohei Ohtani and Tennis player Naomi Osaka.
Another celebrity named in the suit is actor Larry David, who did a Super Bowl commercial for the crypto exchange.
NBC reached out to FTX, Bankman-Fried and all other parties named in the lawsuit but they did not respond to requests for comment.
Last week, Bloomberg reported Bankman-Fried presided over the largest single-day loss of fortune, losing $15.6 billion.
The lawsuit alleges FTX had a scheme to enlist celebrities “to raise funds and drive American consumers to invest in the [yield bearing accounts]” which the lawsuit says were used “to keep the whole scheme afloat.”
The lawsuit states, “the deceptive FTX platform maintained by the FTX entities was truly a house of cards, a Ponzi scheme where the FTX Entities shuffled customer funds between their opaque affiliated entities, using new investor funds obtained through investments in YBAs and loans to pay interest to the old ones and to attempt to maintain the appearance of liquidity.”
The lawsuit states U.S. consumers collectively lost over $11 billion in damages.
Lawyers Adam Moskowitz and David Boies are representing Garrison in the lawsuit. Boies also represented Vice President Al Gore in his legal challenges to the 2000 election results in Bush v. Gore.
In an email to CNN, Moskowitz said FTX was “a massive Ponzi scheme larger than the Madoff scheme.”
“FTX were geniuses at public relations and marketing, and knew that … [it] could only be successful with the help and promotion of the most famous, respected, and beloved celebrities and influencers in the world,” Moskowitz added.
