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FTX owned an $11.5 million stake in a tiny rural bank in Washington state with just 3 employees, bankruptcy hearing shows
Business Insider via MSN ^ | November 24, 2022 | By Pete Syme

Posted on 11/24/2022 6:21:19 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer

* Farmington State Bank had 3 staff and was the 26th-smallest bank in America out of a total 4,800.

* Then FTX bought an $11.5 million stake in the bank, it has emerged during FTX's bankruptcy case.

* That stake was more than twice the bank's previous net worth.

The town of Farmington has just 146 residents, and is so small that Google Street View doesn't cover the whole town.

For a decade, Farmington's bank held around $10 million in deposits. In the third quarter this year, deposits jumped to $84 million – 85% of which came from just four accounts, according to FDIC data cited by the Times.

Online, the bank now appears as "Moonstone Bank," a name which was trademarked a few days before FTX's investment. Moonstone doesn't mention cryptocurrency, but does say it wants to "support the evolution of next generation finance."

Questions are being asked over how FTX got federal approval to buy its stake in Farmington. Banking veterans told the New York Times that it was hard to believe regulators would have knowingly allowed the crypto firm to do so.

(Excerpt) Read more at msn.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Government; News/Current Events; Politics/Elections
KEYWORDS: bitcoin; crypto; cryptocurrency; deepstate; electionfraud; engineeredelection; farmingtonstatebank; ftx; moonstonebank; sambankmanfried; votefraud; washington; washingtonstate
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1 posted on 11/24/2022 6:21:19 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

But it has a nice lobby. /s


2 posted on 11/24/2022 6:23:56 AM PST by mad_as_he$$
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

It likely would have been used a shell, perhaps to “transfer” certain SEC or Treasury rights and permissions more favorable to regular banks, to crypto-dealing FTX, while regulators looked the other way.

Or it could be used straight-up for money laundering.

So many possibilities.


3 posted on 11/24/2022 6:25:24 AM PST by PGR88
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Money laundering?


4 posted on 11/24/2022 6:26:49 AM PST by CIB-173RDABN (I am not an expert in anything, and my opinion is just that, an opinion. I may be wrong.)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

I wouldn’t be at all surprised if there’s some tie between this bank and one of his parents. The clear implication here is that this obscure bank was being used to funnel corporate funds outside the company. Would a bunch of 20-something kids have this connection? Seems unlikely.


5 posted on 11/24/2022 6:27:07 AM PST by NittanyLion
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Getting regulator approval to start a bank is hard, but once you are chartered banks are allowed to do many things other corporations cannot.

It makes sense for a firm like FTX to buy a small one and make use of those permissions.


6 posted on 11/24/2022 6:28:17 AM PST by Renfrew
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

hard to believe regulators would have knowingly allowed the crypto firm to do so.

???

BWA HA HA HA,,, good one.


7 posted on 11/24/2022 6:28:22 AM PST by cuz1961 (USCGR Veteran )
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Curiouser and curiouser…


8 posted on 11/24/2022 6:29:27 AM PST by EEGator
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Subject bank on google maps:

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Farmington+State+Bank/@47.0886363,-117.0474234,3a,75y,90t/data=!3m8!1e2!3m6!1sAF1QipMXJb1_aiLw14ceKCAHNUPKtCltAgsuZnYrNwo0!2e10!3e12!6shttps:%2F%2Flh5.googleusercontent.com%2Fp%2FAF1QipMXJb1_aiLw14ceKCAHNUPKtCltAgsuZnYrNwo0%3Dw148-h86-k-no!7i2048!8i1183!4m13!1m7!3m6!1s0x549fc18edfece1fb:0x206a7957a60f25e4!2sFarmington,+WA+99128!3b1!8m2!3d47.0893399!4d-117.0440605!3m4!1s0x549fc18f6c3073ab:0x290af4105ea5b988!8m2!3d47.0899815!4d-117.0472364


9 posted on 11/24/2022 6:30:20 AM PST by Lonesome in Massachussets (Forsan et haec olim meminisse iuvabit.)
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To: Lonesome in Massachussets

Wide shot of bank. (Small white building.) The end of the street is Idaho.

https://www.google.com/maps/@47.0892705,-117.047058,3a,75y,343.49h,92.65t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sKtKFly3WeJ0-6UsdhijScA!2e0!7i16384!8i8192


10 posted on 11/24/2022 6:32:48 AM PST by Lonesome in Massachussets (Forsan et haec olim meminisse iuvabit.)
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To: NittanyLion

Mommy and Daddy career political academicians, up to their liberal butts in PAC funding, bundling, etc. I’m sure hoping this comes to light, because this is some SHADY stuff.


11 posted on 11/24/2022 6:33:20 AM PST by Hat-Trick (Do you trust a government that cannot trust you with guns?)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

84 million and there are thousands of such banks? We may be talking real money.


12 posted on 11/24/2022 6:33:49 AM PST by Empire_of_Liberty
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To: Lonesome in Massachussets

Holy cow!


13 posted on 11/24/2022 6:33:58 AM PST by Oldeconomybuyer (The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other people's money)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

Branches in Davos, Kiev, Beijing and DNC headquarters.


14 posted on 11/24/2022 6:36:25 AM PST by Dr. Ursus
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

It was in 1916 that J. J. Wagner first planted a small plot of lentils in the young orchard on his farm.

In 2022 Bankman Fried billionaire philanthropist vegetarian and lentil love society founder bought the towns only bank


15 posted on 11/24/2022 6:40:04 AM PST by algore
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To: PGR88

“It likely would have been used a shell, ... Or it could be used straight-up for money laundering.”

Ya THINK? I’m surprised there isn’t a neon sign on the bank flashing, “laundromat”.


16 posted on 11/24/2022 6:42:02 AM PST by MayflowerMadam
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To: Lonesome in Massachussets

Wow. Not suspicious at ALL.


17 posted on 11/24/2022 6:44:02 AM PST by MayflowerMadam
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To: Hat-Trick

Bribery works.

It is why people do it.


18 posted on 11/24/2022 6:51:20 AM PST by cgbg (Claiming that laws and regs that limit “hate speech” stop freedom of speech is “hate speech”.)
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To: Renfrew; EEGator; PGR88
I found some data on this bank. At the end of 2020, the bank had $14MM of assets (of which only about $4MM were loans) and $6MM of equity. Thus it was well-capitalized though tiny.

In the quarter ending September 30, 2020, there was a $3MM equity injection, and what appears to be a $1.4MM additional injection in the fourth quarter of 2020. Hmmm...

Here's where it gets interesting. The bank, which had posted net income routinely with small quarterly losses over the years, started cranking out quarterly losses of $22k, $44k, then losses shot up to $558k, $576k, $1,085k, and finally a whopping $2.6MM loss in the most recent quarter. Meanwhile, there are equity injections commingled with the losses.

Yes, there are thousands of banks in the US. The Fed is worried about Chase and Citigroup, not this rural agriculture bank.

That's said, the regulators HAD to see what was happening, AND allowed it.

19 posted on 11/24/2022 6:51:25 AM PST by DoodleBob ( Gravity’s waiting period is about 9.8 m/s²)
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To: Oldeconomybuyer

This is outrageous, but Democrats won’t hold him accountable. He part of the elitist cabal in the US.


20 posted on 11/24/2022 6:52:08 AM PST by Kaiser8408a (z)
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