Ellison and FTX co-founder Gary Wang pleaded guilty in front of US District Judge Ronnie Abrams in Manhattan federal court and they are cooperating with prosecutors as part of their plea agreements. Their affidavits offer a preview of how two of Bankman-Fried’s former associates could testify in the trial against him as witnesses for the prosecution.
In another appearance, also on December 19, Wang stated that he was ordered to make changes to the FTX code to grant Alameda special privileges. on the trading platform, while being aware that other people were telling investors and clients that Alameda had no such privileges. Wang did not specify who gave him those instructions.
Prosecutor Nicolas Roos said in court on Thursday that the Bankman-Fried trial would include evidence from “multiple cooperating witnesses”. Roos claimed that Bankman-Fried carried out a “fraud of epic proportions” that caused the loss of billions of dollars in customer and investor funds.
Bankman-Fried has acknowledged flaws in risk management at FTXbut has said that he does not believe he has criminal responsibility. He has not yet pleaded guilty.
bankman-fried.jpg
Bankman-Fried founded FTX in 2019 and took advantage of the boom in the values of bitcoin and other digital assets to become a billionaireas well as an influential US political campaign donor. A flurry of customer withdrawals in early November amid concerns about FTX’s mixing of funds with Alameda led FTX to file for bankruptcy on November 11.
Bankman-Fried, 30, was released on bail Thursday of 250 million dollars. Your spokesperson declined to comment on the statements by Ellison and Wang. His lawyers declined to comment.
Ellison told the court that when investors in June 2022 withdrew the loans what they had done to Alameda, she agreed with others to borrow billions of dollars in funds from FTX clients to pay them, with the understanding that the clients were unaware of the arrangement. “I am truly sorry for what I did” Ellison said, adding that he is helping to recover clients’ assets. Wang also said that he knew what he was doing was wrong.
cryptocurrencies.jpg
freepik.es
Ellison’s hearing transcript was initially sealed out of fear that the disclosure of their cooperation could thwart efforts of prosecutors for extraditing Bankman-Fried from the Bahamaswhere he lived and where FTX was headquartered, court records showed.
Bankman-Fried was arrested in the capital of the BahamasNassau, on December 12 and arrived in the United States on Wednesday after consenting to the extradition. a trial judge ordered her confinement at her parents’ home in California until trial.
Friday night, Abrams recused himself from the casesaying in a court order that the law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, where her husband is a partner, advised FTX in 2021. The firm also represented parties that might be adverse to FTX and Bankman-Fried in other proceedings, the judge said, and although her husband had no involvement in these matters, which “were confidential and their substance is unknown to the Court”, she recused herself to avoid a possible conflict.
Source: Ambito
I am a 24-year-old writer and journalist who has been working in the news industry for the past two years. I write primarily about market news, so if you’re looking for insights into what’s going on in the stock market or economic indicators, you’ve come to the right place. I also dabble in writing articles on lifestyle trends and pop culture news.
