Sam Bankman-Fried’s criminal fraud conviction came just as the FTX implosion was approaching its first anniversary. But for others who helped promote the cryptocurrency exchange, the legal fallout will continue for years.

Attention now turns to a sweeping class-action suit in Miami federal court by investors who claim they lost billions in the collapse of FTX and seek to pin blame not just on company founder Bankman-Fried and his inner circle, but also on celebrities who were paid to endorse it to the masses, as well as bankers, accountants and lawyers who propped up the empire’s legitimacy.

Flashy TV advertisements featuring Larry David and Tom Brady touting FTX were among the very first bits of evidence shown to the jury at the start of a monthlong trial in Manhattan that culminated in Bankman-Fried being found guilty last week of seven counts of fraud and conspiracy.

The class action, which seeks to cover hundreds of thousands of investors, alleges that celebrity endorsers and firms that provided financial and legal services to FTX would have seen red flags about the business if they had done proper due diligence. The Miami case seeks unspecified damages for the $8 billion that FTX allegedly “stole” from investors — and most of which “vanished.”

Legal experts have said the celebrities’ prominence and wealth make them a juicy target for investors looking to recover some of their losses, with Bankman-Fried essentially broke.

Possible defense tactics

Lawyers for the entertainers, sports figures and other celebrities — including Gisele Bundchen, Steph Curry and Shaquille O’Neal — have argued the investors have no valid claims against them because the advertisements and sponsorships they were involved with didn’t specifically encourage anyone to deposit money in FTX accounts. And the endorsers had no role at all in alleged losses tied to “FTX’s misappropriation and mismanagement,” the defense attorneys have said in a court filing seeking dismissal of the Miami case.

Some of those being sued could even use the guilty verdict to argue that having backed FTX with millions of dollars of their own money, they were “victims of the criminal enterprise and should not be liable at the civil level,” said Braden Perry, a former federal regulatory enforcement attorney and partner at law firm Kennyhertz Perry.

A handful of FTX endorsers already have reached settlements with investors for undisclosed terms, and Bankman-Fried’s conviction could encourage other defendants to settle. But it could take years to resolve claims against the defendants who put up a fight.

Bankman-Fried’s sentencing has been set for March.