Not guilty: that's how he declared himself Sam Bankman Fried di fronte al federal judge of Manhattan, lewis kaplan, relatively to eight counts, including wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. The judge ruled that the process for the founder of cryptocurrency exchange Ftx, who ended up in bankruptcy in recent months in what is one of the most important financial scandals in recent history, will begin the 2 October.
The XNUMX-year-old is accused of looting FTX client deposits to prop up his hedge fund AlamedaResearch, buy real estate and donate millions of dollars to political causes. “Client funds have also been used and laundered through political donations, charitable donations and a variety of risky investments,” he said. Danielle Sassoon, federal prosecutor, during the hearing. Sassoon stressed that the government already has lots of evidence against Bankman-Fried and in the coming weeks, prosecutors will hand over hundreds of to the defense thousands of documents. The process, he adds, could last four weeks.
SBF had admitted to making mistakes in handling Ftx
Bankman-Fried, clean shaven, wore a blue suit, white shirt and blue polka dot tie and carried a backpack to court, a far cry from the shorts and T-shirts that were his attire of choice when running FTX from the Bahamas .
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate could face up to 115 years in prison if convicted. Previously has admitted to making mistakes at the FTX, but stated of do not hold that you have criminal liability.
The government has already obtained the guilty plea by two former collaborators Bankman-Fried's top tier -- former Alameda chief executive Caroline Ellison and former FTX chief technology officer Gary Wang -- who are working with prosecutors and could testify at trial.
Bankman-Fried rode the boom in bitcoin and other digital assets to build a net worth estimated at $26 billion and become an influential political donor in the United States. FTX collapsed in early November after a spate of withdrawals and filed for bankruptcy on November 11, wiping out the Bankman-Fried fortune. He later said he had $100.000 in his checking account.
"In 40 years of career, I have never seen such a thing", is the comment clear and unequivocal in its harshness di John Ray, new chief executive of Ftx, on the cryptocurrency trading platform, which has filed for an assisted bankruptcy.
The names of the signatories of the 250 million bail remain secret
Last month it was extradited from the Bahamas, where he lived and where the stock exchange was based. Since he was released with a $250 million bail on December 22, Bankman-Fried was electronically monitored and had to live with his parents Parents, Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, both professors at Stanford Law School in California.
Judge Kaplan granted the request to do not disclose the names of co-signers, along with his parents, the $ 250 million bail that allowed him to take advantage of probation. His lawyers argued there would be security and privacy concerns if the names of the co-signatories were revealed.
The judge also prohibits access to FTX and Alameda funds
Judge Kaplan also imposed a new bail condition, establishing that Bankman-Fried cannot access FTX or Alameda assets. This came after Sassoon accused Bankman-Fried of trying to move the assets to an unnamed foreign country which he believed was "more lenient". He said prosecutors were also investigating reports reported late last month that funds were being moved from Alameda's cryptocurrency wallets.
Mark Cohen, Bankman-Fried's attorney, said her client "did not perform" transfers from Alameda. Referring to allegations that Bankman-Fried tried to move money overseas, he said his client attempted to comply with a Bahamian court order that temporarily seized some FTX assets last month.
