FTX Founder Bankman-Fried Pleads Not Guilty in NY Court
- The founder and former CEO of FTX pleaded not guilty to criminal charges in a New York court on January 3, 2023.
- SBF arrived at the court in a black SUV along with his parents, with whom he is currently living in Palo Alto on a $250 million bail bond.
- US District Judge Lewis Kaplan approved a motion to seal the names of two individuals who guaranteed the bail bond.
- CEO of Alameda, Caroline Ellison, and FTX co-founder, Gary Wang, have already pleaded guilty to the charges placed on them.
The crypto world has made it to the TV screen and newspapers but due to all the wrong reasons that includes the implosion of Terra and collapse of Celsius Network. However, currently, everyone is talking about the demise of multi-billion dollar crypto exchange FTX and its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, also called SBF, who is facing criminal charges in the US.
According to a report from CNBC, the founder and former CEO of FTX pleaded not guilty to criminal charges in a New York court on January 3, 2023. SBF saw eight charges being filed against him which were related to his former exchange and its sister trading firm, Alameda Research. Authorities are investigating both companies that Bankman-Fried founded.
It is crucial to note that SBF was indicted on charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and securities fraud, individual charges of securities fraud and wire fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy to avoid campaign finance regulations. The former FTX executive has pleaded not guilty to all of them, and the trial is set to begin on October 2.
CNBC also confirmed that SBF arrived at the court in a black SUV along with his parents, with whom he is currently living in Palo Alto on a $250 million bail bond. The SUV was immediately surrounded by cameras, and reportedly, Bankman-Fried’s mother was unable to exit the vehicle, falling to the wet pavement while cameras tried to catch a glimpse of the founder of FTX and Alameda Research.
US District Judge Lewis Kaplan approved a motion regarding the sealing of the names of two individuals who guaranteed the $250 million bail bond on which SBF was released from prison. The motion alleges that the case has already threatened SBF’s parent’s lives, and revealing the identities of the two guarantors might also prove harmful to their well-being.
On the other hand, the Federal prosecutor Danielle Sassoon told the court that SBF had worked with foreign regulators to transfer assets that the US arm of FTX was working to recover via its Chapter 11 Bankruptcy proceedings. Furthermore, the regulators in the Bahamas and FTX.US officials are fighting for hundreds of millions, if not billions. The latter claims that the Bahamian authorities transferred these assets illicitly and also alleges that Sam Bankman-Fried helped them.
Meanwhile, the Bahamian regulators state that the law gives them authority over the assets, and therefore, FTX.US is not in charge of the funds.
It is also crucial to note that the CEO of Alameda, Caroline Ellison, and FTX co-founder, Gary Wang, have pleaded guilty to the charges placed on them and are said to be cooperating with authorities against their former boss. Moreover, the SEC accused Wang of developing a software backdoor in the FTX platform that allowed Alameda to use customer money for its own trades.
A crypto journalist with over 3 years of experience in DeFi, NFT, metaverse, etc. Parth has worked with major media outlets in the crypto and finance world and has gained experience and expertise in crypto culture after surviving bear and bull markets over the years.
