While Farmington State Bank — which was doing business as Moonstone — sold off its assets to the Bank of Eastern Oregon and wound down in August of this year, the company that had a controlling interest in the small Washington state-based bank, FBH, also seems to be calling it quits.
FBH was founded in 2020 by Jean Chalopin — the creator of Inspector Gadget and CEO and chairman of Deltec Bank and Trust in The Bahamas — seemingly for the sole purpose of purchasing Farmington State Bank.
The mission statement and name of the bank were changed shortly after purchase to ‘Moonstone’ in order to represent its customer demographic shift: cryptocurrency companies (to the moon) and marijuana companies (stoned).
End of Moonstone, end of FBH
Unfortunately for Chalopin, one of the investors he sought out to buy equity in Moonstone was Sam Bankman-Fried, who poured $11.5 million into the bank for 9.9% ownership. The investment valued the third-smallest bank in America at $115 million and opened it up to increased scrutiny from the public, the media, and regulators when FTX and Alameda Research collapsed.
FBH’s failure to file an annual report means it could only have weeks to live.
Read more: Exclusive: The Fed responds to the Moonstone Bank mystery
FBH failed to file an annual report in the state of Washington, meaning that the business will be struck off in December of this year, but with the end of Moonstone and a close eye being kept on Chalopin and crypto companies in general by US bank regulators, there appears to be little reason for FBH to submit data and retain its existence in Washington.
Read the full article here
