- At the Jan. 3 hearing, SBF pleaded not guilty to all criminal charges.
- The court has set his trial for October 2, although prosecutors insist he is guilty of the epic fraud.
Criminal proceedings against managers of defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX continue in the US. In the latest turn of events, former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him.
The former CEO pleaded not guilty at a January 3 hearing in Manhattan federal court, Reuters reported. The 30-year-old, known publicly by his initials SBF, faces eight charges, including wire fraud, securities fraud and violating campaign finance laws. If convicted, he could face up to 115 years in prison.
During the hearing, prosecutors reiterated that SBF defrauded FTX investors and users in what they called an “epic” fraud. He is accused of looting FTX customer deposits to support his Alameda Research hedge fund.
Client funds were also used and laundered through political donations, charitable donations, and various venture investments.
Federal Prosecutor Daniel Sassoon said at the session.
Sassoon implied that the government had collected hundreds of thousands of pieces of evidence against the SBF. Prosecutors intend to file the documents closer to the trial date, which is set for October 2, 2023. According to Sassoon, the trial may last up to four weeks.
Furthermore, Sassoon accused SBF of recently making crypto asset transfers linked to Alameda. In response, Bankman-Fried attorney Mark Cohen said his client did not make the Alameda transfers.
However, the indictment prompted US District Judge Lewis Kaplan to set a new bail condition for SBF. Judge Kaplan stated that SBF cannot access FTX’s or Alameda’s assets while you are on bail.
Can SBF Cope With Criminal Charges?
His December 22 release on $250 million bail already stipulates that he will be subject to electronic monitoring. He also has to live with his parents, Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, both professors at Stanford Law School (California).
Meanwhile, in the latest documents presented to the court, the lawyers asked to keep the identity of the other guarantors of SBF’s bail confidential. The court granted the petition, noting that his parents were subjected to harassment, which can be transferred to the other guarantors.
Despite pleading not guilty to criminal charges, it appears the net is still closing on the MIT graduate. The prosecutors have already managed to plead guilty. The co-founder and former CEO of FTX, the CEO of SBF, faces 115 years in prison, but has pleaded not guilty. of FTX, Gary Wang, as well as former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison.
The two executives pleaded guilty to fraud charges and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. This means that they could probably testify during the trial as well. Similarly, FTX’s current CEO and restructuring director, John Ray, revealed that the exchange was extensively commingling user funds with Alameda’s assets.
