Things happening to Tom Brady off the field continue to pile up and we’re not even talking about his divorce from Gisele anymore.
Via Watcher.Guru, Texas has commenced an investigation of Brady and Steph Curry for their activities to promote FTX. Joe Rotunda, director of enforcement at the Texas State Securities Board, told Bloomberg News on Monday that his agency is investigating payments made to star athletes and entertainers who pitched the failed crypto exchange run by disgraced founder Sam Bankman-Fried.
“We are taking a close look at them,” Rotunda said. He added that celebrity endorsements of FTX are not the main priority of the investigation but they are one of the elements.
More information via Bloomberg:
“Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback Tom Brady and the Golden State Warriors’ Steph Curry are among the celebrities that a Texas regulator is investigating for potential securities-law violations tied to their promotions of crypto exchange FTX.
The regulator is scrutinizing payments received by the celebrities to endorse FTX US, along with what disclosures were made and how accessible they were to retail investors, Joe Rotunda, director of enforcement at the Texas State Securities Board, told Bloomberg News in an interview.
“We are taking a close look at them,” Rotunda said. Though the stars’ endorsements aren’t the most immediate priority, they’re still a focus in the regulator’s larger probe into FTX’s collapse, he said.”
Regulators have not shied away from going after celebrity endorsers of cryptocurrency as we witnessed last month when Kim Kardashian agreed to pay a $1.26 million fine to settle charges brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission.
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Kardashian and former boxer Floyd Mayweather were named in a lawsuit earlier this year alleging they misled their online followers into buying cryptocurrency as part of a “pump and dump” scheme.
Just last week, a resident of Oklahoma filed a class-action lawsuit naming Brady, Curry, David, Brady’s supermodel ex-wife Gisele Bündchen, Shaquille O’Neal, David Ortiz, Naomi Osaka, Trevor Lawrence, Kevin O’Leary and Udonis Haslem.
So far this season, Brady has passed for 2,805 yards to go with 12 touchdowns and just two interceptions. He has his Bucs team on a two-game winning streak that has them sitting at 5-5 as they come off their bye week.
Through his first 15 games, Curry is averaging 32.2 points, 6.7 rebounds and 6.6 assists per game, while shooting 52.8 percent from the field, 44.3 percent from 3-point land and 90.9 percent from the free-throw line. The Warriors are just 8-10 on the year, with one win coming on he road.
