US law firm Brown Rudnick has been hired by the Bahamas to provide public relations and lobbying services related to blown-up crypto exchange FTX Digital Markets Ltd.
The law firm says it will speak to the US media and lobby the federal government on the Bahamas’ behalf related to the FTX debacle, according to a required filing with the Justice Department.
Brown Rudnick is best known recently for representing actor Johnny Depp in a high-profile defamation lawsuit against ex-wife Amber Heard. The firm’s lawyers have also advised controversial rapper Ye, who they dumped after anti-Semitic comments. Brown Rudnick is representing Venezuelan businessman Majed Khalil in a $250 million defamation suit against Fox Corp., Fox News Network and former Fox talk show host Lou Dobbs.
FTX’s American bankruptcy lawyers have said the company’s co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried conspired with the Bahamas to access FTX’s systems and mint new digital coins worth millions of dollars. The bankruptcy lawyers said they don’t trust Bahamas security regulators with FTX-related data.
The Bahamas government also said last month it had seized $3.5 billion in digital assets from FTX shortly after it went under.
Banmkan-Fried famously lived in a Bahamas penthouse with a team of FTX executives. The 30-year-old was indicted last month and extradited to the US, where he’s expected on Tuesday to enter a not guilty plea to criminal charges.
Brown Rudnick said it’s been engaged since early last year to provide legal services to the Bahamas regarding the development of a policy position regarding digital assets.
Its FTX-related work for the country began in early December. The firm says it will speak and meet with US media members and government agencies to “discuss The Bahamas’ activities and bona fides.”
The firm’s engagement is led by Clara Krivoy, co-chair of Brown Rudnick’s digital commerce group, William Baldiga, the firm’s former chairman and CEO, and Stephen Best, who heads the white-collar defense, investigations and compliance practice.
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