FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) will have his details including tweets, memos, and images of his penthouse used as evidence against him in the Federal District Court in Manhattan.
FTX Founder’s Hidden Evidence Comes To Light
Founder and former Chief Executive Officer of Bankrupt FTX Trading Ltd, Sam Bankman-Fried may be in hot water, as investigations have found multiple pieces of evidence that could potentially be used to convict the ex-FTX CEO.
In a recent court trial, United States District Judge, Lewis A. Kaplan accepted evidential documents including a memo written by Bankman-Fried and multiple audio clips recorded in a Hong Kong November meeting of all Alameda Research employees including former CEO and ex-girlfriend of Bankman-Fried, Caroline Ellison.
While Bankman-Fried’s lead lawyer, Mark Cohen made all possible arguments and attempts to avoid the evidence from being revealed, the District judge eventually allowed the Jury to review the majority of the documents provided.
In the memo, there was a series of bizarre and unclear phrases written by Sam Bankman-Fried. So Cohen objected to the relevance of the document, citing that the evidence had no merit and was displayed to suggest that SBF was an unstable individual.
Additionally, the audio clips that were submitted in a previous court filing in August included recordings of Ellison, Christian Drappi, a former software engineer at Alameda, and others. The recordings were played to the jury by Bankman-Fried’s prosecutors.
In the audio, Ellison revealed that Alameda Research had borrowed a considerable amount of customer assets to fund its investment plans and accommodate its loan losses. Responding to Ellison, Drappi asked about the company’s plans to reimburse customers and if the loans were collateralized through the spot margin group.
Ellison said that the loans were not collateralized and further stated that Bankman-Fried was behind the scheme of misappropriating customer funds. Following the admission, Drappi resigned from the company.
Sam Bankman-Fried’s Defense May Be Undone By Closest Friends
After the collapse of the crypto exchange in November 2022, Sam Bankman-Fried has been accused of seven fraud charges with multiple counts relating to misappropriation of customer funds through SBF’s second company Alameda Research.
During his court trials, some of his oldest friends and closest associates are now witnesses who have agreed to testify against the former CEO. Three members of his trusted circle including Gary Wang, co-founder, Caroline Ellison, and Adam Yedidia, a college classmate and former employee at the exchange have already testified.
Caroline Ellison who was previously romantically involved with Bankman-Fried bore witness in the court last week, exposing the founder for his alleged primary role in diverting customer funds while also urging her to oversee Alameda and creating misleading financial statements.
A former top executive, Nishad Singh, who served as Director of Engineering, has also testified against Bankman-Fried, stating that he was aware of the former FTX CEO’s excessive spending and alleged embezzlement of customer funds.
As the trial unfolds, it remains to be seen if these testimonies of Bankman-Fried’s once-loyal friends and employees would prove to be a turning point in the court case. For now, SBF continues defending his position, pleading not guilty on all fraud accounts.
Despite his ‘not guilty’ plea, the Founder currently faces greater scrutiny and if found guilty on all seven convictions, he may be charged with a life imprisonment sentence.