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Sam Bankman-Fried pleaded not responsible on Tuesday to prison expenses that he cheated buyers in his now-bankrupt FTX cryptocurrency alternate.
Bankman-Fried is accused of looting billions of {dollars} in FTX buyer deposits to assist his Alameda Analysis hedge fund, purchase actual property and make tens of millions of {dollars} in political contributions, in what prosecutors have referred to as a fraud of epic proportions.
The 30-year-old defendant entered the plea via his lawyer to eight prison counts, together with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit cash laundering, earlier than U.S. District Decide Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan federal courtroom.
It is not uncommon for prison defendants to initially plead not responsible. They could change their pleas later.
Bankman-Fried may resist 115 years in jail if convicted.
Federal prosecutor Danielle Sassoon informed the decide that prosecutors and defence legal professionals have mentioned a doable September or October trial date. She mentioned a trial may final 4 weeks.
Bankman-Fried, a Massachusetts Institute of Know-how graduate, rode a increase within the worth of bitcoin and different digital property to construct a internet value of an estimated $26 billion US and develop into an influential political donor in the US.
However FTX collapsed in early November after a wave of withdrawals and declared chapter on Nov. 11, wiping out Bankman-Fried’s fortune. He later mentioned he had $100,000 in his checking account.
Closest associates pleaded responsible final month
Bankman-Fried was extradited to the U.S. final month from the Bahamas, the place he lived and the place the alternate was primarily based.
Since his launch on a $250-million bond on Dec. 22, Bankman-Fried has been topic to digital monitoring and required to dwell along with his dad and mom, Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried, each professors at Stanford Legislation College in California.
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried will probably be launched on a $250 million US bond bundle whereas he awaits trial on fraud expenses associated to the collapse of the FTX crypto alternate, a federal Justice of the Peace decide mentioned on Thursday.
Kaplan granted Bankman-Fried’s request to not publicize the names of two further co-signers for the bond.
Legal professionals for Bankman-Fried have mentioned his dad and mom, who co-signed the bond, have been receiving bodily threats since FTX’s collapse and that different co-signers would possibly face comparable harassment except their names had been stored secret.
The decide additionally imposed a brand new bail situation, saying Bankman-Fried can not entry FTX or Alameda property.
The prosecutors’ case was strengthened by final month’s responsible pleas of two of Bankman-Fried’s closest associates.
Caroline Ellison, who was Alameda’s chief govt, and Gary Wang, FTX’s former chief expertise officer, pleaded responsible to seven and 4 prison expenses, respectively, and agreed to co-operate with prosecutors.
Bankman-Fried, Ellison and Wang had been additionally sued by the U.S. Securities and Trade Fee and the Commodity Futures Buying and selling Fee. Ellison and Wang settled these civil circumstances.
FTX’s new chief govt, John Ray, identified for his work on power firm Enron Corp’s chapter, has mentioned FTX was run by “grossly inexperienced” and unsophisticated individuals.
