Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX, appeared in court on Thursday for his fraud trial. The judge had the jury dismissed temporarily so that he could review snippets of Bankman-Fried’s testimony and determine what he would be allowed to tell the jury.
Bankman-Fried has decided to testify on Friday, sharing his version of how his cryptocurrency empire grew and eventually collapsed, leading to significant financial losses. Prosecutors claim that the losses were a result of Bankman-Fried’s extravagant spending on investments, donations, and a lavish lifestyle.
Initially, it seemed that Bankman-Fried would begin testifying before the jury after lunch, but the judge changed the plans. Judge Lewis A. Kaplan opted to make rulings on what Bankman-Fried can testify about before he starts his testimony, despite previously stating that he would do so on Friday.
After sending the jurors home for the day, Judge Kaplan assured them that they were nearing the end of the trial and would likely receive the case in the first few days of next week. The prosecution has already presented their case, including witnesses and financial records, since early October.
Following the prosecution’s resting of their case on Thursday, Bankman-Fried’s defense lawyers immediately requested an acquittal, claiming that the prosecution had failed to present sufficient evidence. However, the judge rejected the request.
Bankman-Fried, who is 31 years old, has been quiet throughout the three-week trial while several members of his executive team testified against him. These executives had made cooperation deals with the government, pleading guilty to criminal charges.
In their testimonies, the executives asserted that Bankman-Fried directed them to use billions of dollars taken from FTX customers’ accounts, funneled through his hedge fund, Alameda Research, which he started in 2017 before creating the FTX cryptocurrency exchange.
Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas and extradited to the United States in December of last year, following the collapse of his businesses. Initially released on a $250 million personal recognizance bond, he was required to stay at his parents’ home in Palo Alto, California. However, the judge revoked his bail in August, citing attempted influence of potential trial witnesses, and ordered him jailed.
One of the individuals testifying against Bankman-Fried is Caroline Ellison, his former girlfriend and former chief executive of Alameda. She expressed relief when the businesses collapsed, as she no longer had to lie. Ellison blamed Bankman-Fried for corrupting her moral compass and creating justifications for illegal activities. She also admitted to doctoring financial balance sheets to hide that Alameda had borrowed around $10 billion from FTX customers by June 2022.
