Sam “Curly” FTX pleads not guilty

On January 3, Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, refused to plead guilty to criminal charges of misleading investors and causing billions of dollars in losses.

According to Nikkei Asia, during the trial on January 3, the former CEO of FTX pleaded not guilty to eight counts, including wire fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and violating financial laws in the war. election translation. The trial was presided over by US District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan federal court.

Judge Kaplan set the date for the trial to be October 2. Federal prosecutor Danielle Sassoon estimated that the trial could last four weeks and said authorities will soon turn over hundreds of thousands of documents of evidence to defense attorneys.

SBF is accused of taking billions of dollars in customer deposits on the FTX cryptocurrency exchange to fund its Alameda Research hedge fund, buy real estate and contribute millions of dollars to political activities.

Defendants facing criminal charges often initially plead not guilty. However, they may change their mind after a few hearings.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said Bankman-Fried “staged a multi-year scam” to conceal FTX investors’ money transfers to Alameda Research, the firm. another cryptocurrency exchange that this person established. The SEC also confirmed that it is conducting investigations into “other violations of securities laws” and investigating the organizations and individuals involved.

In fact, if convicted on all counts, Sam Bankman-Fried could face up to 115 years in prison.

Sam is one of the people who has fueled the explosion in the value of Bitcoin and other digital assets. During his peak, the founder of FTX had a net worth of $26 billion and became one of the richest cryptocurrency billionaires in the world.

However, after a wave of withdrawals, FTX collapsed and declared bankruptcy on 11/11/2022. This makes SBF’s net worth almost zero. The founder of FTX once claimed that he only had about 100,000 USD left in his bank account.

Previously, on December 12, 2022, Sam Bankman-Fried was arrested by the Bahamas authorities. This arrest was made after the US bar team of the Southern District of New York (SDNY) shared a sealed indictment with the Bahamas government, setting the stage for the extradition and trial of the billionaire money tycoon. One-time electronics will take place in America.

Since being released on $250 million bail on December 22, 2022, Sam Bankman-Fried has been under remote surveillance and has had to live with his parents, Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, both teachers. professor at Stanford Law School in California.

Judge Kaplan accepted Sam Bankman-Fried’s request not to disclose the names of two of the people who signed the statement paying the FTX founder’s bail.

Sam’s attorney said his parents have received numerous threats since the collapse of FTX. According to the same lawyer, the names who bailed out for Sam Bankman-Fried may also face similar harassment, so their identities are kept private.

The judge also imposed a new bail condition on Bankman-Fried’s inability to access FTX or Alameda assets. The charges brought against Sam Bankman-Fried by prosecutors were bolstered by confessions last month from two of his closest associates.

Caroline Ellison, CEO of Alameda, and Gary Wang, former chief technology officer of FTX, pleaded guilty to seven and four criminal charges, respectively, and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. SBF, Ellison and Wang were also sued by the SEC and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Ellison and Wang settled those civil lawsuits.

FTX’s new CEO, John Ray, said FTX is run by people who are “completely inexperienced”.

Reference: Nikkei Asia