FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried pleads not guilty to cheating charges

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty in Manhattan federal court on Tuesday to charges that he cheated investors and looted customer deposits on his cryptocurrency trading platform

Sam Bankman-Fried
Sam Bankman-Fried
AP New york
2 min read Last Updated : Jan 04 2023 | 7:29 AM IST

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty in Manhattan federal court on Tuesday to charges that he cheated investors and looted customer deposits on his cryptocurrency trading platform.

Bankman-Fried, 30, is accused of illegally diverting massive sums of customer money from FTX to make lavish real estate purchases, donate money to politicians and make risky trades at Alameda Research, his cryptocurrency hedge fund trading firm.

Bankman-Fried's attorney, Mark Cohen, announced his client's plea, saying: He pleads not guilty to all counts."

Wearing a backpack, Bankman-Fried marched through a crush of cameras as he entered the courthouse on a rainy day to make his first appearance before Judge Lewis A. Kaplan. Besides taking a plea during the arraignment, Kaplan was expected to discuss with lawyers a schedule for proceeding toward a trial.

Prior to his appearance, his lawyers sent a letter to the judge, saying Bankman-Fried's parents in recent weeks have become the target of intense media scrutiny, harassment, and threats, including communications expressing a desire that they suffer physical harm".

As a result, the lawyers requested that the names be redacted on court documents for the two individuals who were lined up to sign Bankman-Fried's USD 250 million personal recognizance bond.

Bankman-Fried was released with electronic monitoring about two weeks ago on the condition that he await trial at his parents' house in Palo Alto, California.

Carolyn Ellison, 28, who ran Alameda, and Gary Wang, 29, who co-founded FTX, have pleaded guilty to fraud charges and are cooperating with prosecutors in a bid for leniency. Both are free on bail.

Their pleas were kept secret until Bankman-Fried was in the air after his extradition from the Bahamas, where FTX is based, due to fears that he might flee.

Shortly before Bankman-Fried's arraignment, US Attorney Damian Williams announced that he was launching a task force made up of senior prosecutors in his office to investigate and prosecute matters related to the FTX collapse. He said the task force also will work to trace and recover victim assets.

The Southern District of New York is working around the clock to respond to the implosion of FTX," Williams said in a press release. It is an all-hands-on-deck moment. We are launching the SDNY FTX Task Force to ensure that this urgent work continues, powered by all of SDNY's resources and expertise, until justice is done.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

Subscribe to Business Standard digital and get complimentary access to The New York Times

Quarterly Starter

₹900

3 Months

₹300/Month

SAVE 25%

Smart Essential

₹2,700

1 Year

₹225/Month

Save 46%

Super Saver

₹3,900

2 Years

₹162/Month

Subscribe

Renews automatically, cancel anytime

Here’s what’s included in our digital subscription plans

Access to Exclusive Premium Stories Online

  • Over 30 behind the paywall stories daily, handpicked by our editors for subscribers

Complimentary Access to The New York Times

  • News, Games, Cooking, Audio, Wirecutter & The Athletic

Business Standard Epaper

  • Digital replica of our daily newspaper — with options to read, save, and share

Curated Newsletters

  • Insights on markets, finance, politics, tech, and more delivered to your inbox

Market Analysis & Investment Insights

  • In-depth market analysis & insights with access to The Smart Investor

Archives

  • Repository of articles and publications dating back to 1997

Ad-free Reading

  • Uninterrupted reading experience with no advertisements

Seamless Access Across All Devices

  • Access Business Standard across devices — mobile, tablet, or PC, via web or app

More From This Section

Topics :cryptocurrencyNew York

First Published: Jan 04 2023 | 7:29 AM IST

Next Story