Formula 1 itself and the Mercedes team are involved in an investigation into cryptocurrency fraud. Both the sport and the racing team briefly had the same sponsor at one pointr. DThe company is suspected of having bilked around eleven billion euros from unsuspecting investors.
It is not the first time in the history of Formula 1 that dubious sponsors have appeared, for example, a few years ago in 2019 there was a lot of fuss surrounding a Haas sponsor, namely Rich Energy, who also sold almost the entire livery. seized the car. That was a rather mysterious company and now another company is popping up in the sport, namely FTX.
FTX sponsored both Formula 1 and the Mercedes team in 2021 and 2022. Some victims of FTX now hold the company responsible for their billions in losses. They accuse founder Sam Bankman-Fried of pocketing most of the investments.
The American is currently even in prison and the competent authorities are looking for solutions in his own assets to repay the investors, but this would not be enough to repay everything.
At first glance you would think that F1 and the Mercedes team are not to blame, but some victims see this differently. They believe that F1 and Mercedes actively contributed to FTX’s billion-dollar fraud. When everything came to light, it was a striking image in Brazil in 2022, Mercedes literally ripping the sponsor name off the car.
FTX has also caused damage in other sports. For example, NBA star Stephen Curry, NFL legend Tom Brady and the American Major League Baseball are on the list.
A verdict for Bankman-Fried will follow on March 24, 2024, but things are not looking rosy for the man. It is currently known that he will be convicted of seven fraud cases.
Written by Vincent Bogaerts