JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A class-action lawsuit was filed on Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida which claims that FTX, a crypto platform, misled their customers. According to the complaint obtained by First Coast News, "American consumers collectively sustained over $11 billion dollars in damages" as a result.
The lawsuit named several well known athletes and celebrities, including Jacksonville Jaguar Trevor Lawrence. Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen, Shaquille O'Neal, Larry David and Kevin O’Leary were also named as brand ambassadors who allegedly promoted FTX in an effort to get people to invest in yield-bearing accounts.
"Although many incriminating FTX emails and texts have already been destroyed, we located them and they evidence how FTX's fraudulent scheme was designed to take advantage of unsophisticated investors from across the country, who utilize mobile apps to make their investments," as written in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit was filed by investor Edwin Garrison who says he trusted the company "after being exposed to some or all of Defendants' misrepresentations and omissions regarding the Deceptive FTX Platform."
FTX was one of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchanges, up until recently. It was already short billions of dollars when it sought bankruptcy protection Friday and its former CEO and founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, resigned.
Bankman-Fried tweeted an apology on Nov. 10. "I'm sorry. That's the biggest thing. I f***** up, and should have done better."
First Coast News has reached out to Trevor Lawrence for comment but has not heard back yet.