In the fraud case against Sam Bankman-Fried, another member of his former leadership circle accused the founder of the collapsed crypto exchange FTX. Caroline Ellison, former head of Bankman-Fried’s Alameda brokerage and former partner of the 31-year-old, described the suspect in a New York court as an ambitious man.
He had no qualms about providing misleading financial information to lenders, became involved in the rivalry with the cryptocurrency exchange Binance and believed that he could one day become president of the US.
Breaking laws? “Yes, we have.”
“Alameda has taken billions of dollars of money from FTX customers and used it for our own investments and to repay our debt,” she said. Bankman-Fried also ordered her to present a misleading Alameda balance sheet to lenders. When asked by a prosecutor if she had committed crimes, the 28-year-old replied: “Yes, we did.”
Alameda used the FTX line of credit for the first time in 2021, she added. Bankman-Fried wanted to buy back Binance’s billion-dollar stake in FTX because he feared the rival would influence business. Binance was not immediately available for comment on this topic. The world’s largest crypto exchange showed interest in acquiring FTX last November, but subsequently decided against it. Ellison is expected back on the witness stand on Wednesday.
Bankman-Fried was also the head of technology
Last week, former technical director and co-founder of FTX Gary Wang had already accused Bankman-Fried. Nishad Singh is also expected to testify as a third former confidante during the course of the proceedings. Ellison, Wang and Singh pleaded guilty at a hearing and said they would cooperate with prosecutors.
According to authorities, Bankman-Fried secretly transferred billions to speculate and finance his lavish lifestyle. He has repeatedly denied all allegations of fraud and has pleaded not guilty. However, he admitted faults in the company’s management. The process is expected to take six weeks. If convicted, Bankman-Fried could face up to 115 years in prison.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
