CNBC reports that Sam Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty to the eight criminal charges he’s facing, accusing the former crypto billionaire of committing fraud and money laundering. Bankman-Fried, also known as SBF, appeared in a New York City courtroom nearly two months after his crypto exchange FTX declared bankruptcy.
Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried pleads not guilty to fraud, money laundering charges
The former crypto billionaire pleaded not guilty to eight criminal charges, with the trial set to begin on October 2nd.
The former crypto billionaire pleaded not guilty to eight criminal charges, with the trial set to begin on October 2nd.
is a senior editor following news across tech, culture, policy, and entertainment. He joined The Verge in 2021 after several years covering news at Engadget.
Now, billions of dollars from investors and customers are missing, and the Department of Justice, US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have all accused his empire of operating as a fraud practically from the very start.
Photo illustration by Cath Virgina / The Verge | Photo by Bloomberg, Getty Images
Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has been found guilty on seven counts including charges of wire fraud. FTX was a fraud “from the start,” the Securities and Exchange Commission alleged — with a “multi-billion-dollar deficiency caused by his own misappropriation of customer funds.”
Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas last month before being extradited to the US to face these charges and is currently living with his parents while free on a $250 million bail. As SBF was headed back to the US, the authorities revealed that two of his close friends and associates, Caroline Ellison and Zixiao “Gary” Wang, who were executives within his empire, had already pleaded guilty and were cooperating with the prosecutors.
According to Bloomberg, US District Judge Lewis Kaplan tentatively set a start date for the trial on October 2nd, “after US prosecutors said they expect to produce all evidence for the case in the next four weeks.” Reuters reports the judge also added a new bail condition, saying that Bankman-Fried is not allowed to access FTX or Alameda assets.
The judge also agreed to a request from Bankman-Fried’s lawyers, who pushed to keep private the identities of two people — other than his parents — who have helped secure his bail, saying his parents have already been targeted by threats and harassment.
Ellison had been the CEO of Alameda Research, while Wang co-founded FTX and served as its CTO. The prosecutors allege that the executives leading Bankman-Fried’s companies used FTX customer funds for Alameda’s trading as well as loans to themselves and lavish spending on homes, private jet flights, and political donations.
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