FTX founder and former CEO pleaded not guilty in a federal court in New York to charges relating to the failure of his crypto exchange and hedge fund Alameda Research, as reported first by CNBC on Tuesday, Jan. 3.
The former billionaire is facing charges of securities fraud and wire fraud, as well as money laundering, and conspiracy to circumvent laws governing campaign finance. The trial will commence in October.
(Photo : Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images)
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JANUARY 03: FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried leaves Manhattan Federal Court on January 03, 2023 in New York City.
Lawyers of Bankman-Fried also submitted a request to have the identities of two people who had promised to see the former CEO released on bail with a bond.
They argued that the guarantors must not be subjected to the same scrutiny because the defendant and the case's public profile had already put Bankman-Fried's parents at risk. The motion was eventually approved in court.
FTX Assets
According to federal prosecutor Danielle Sassoon, Bankman-Fried collaborated with international regulators to transfer assets that FTX's US management had been attempting to retrieve under the Chapter 11 bankruptcy procedure.
It is worth noting that the dispute has been going on for weeks in Delaware bankruptcy court between Bahamas regulators and FTX's US attorneys.
Lawyers for FTX believe that Bankman-Fried helped Bahamian regulators transfer hundreds of millions of dollars illegally.
Bahamian regulators contest the legitimacy of the US Chapter 11 proceedings and assert that they have jurisdiction over those assets under local law.
CNBC notes that the federal prosecutors seem to agree with the US attorneys of FTX.
Sassoon requested that Kaplan establish a fresh prohibition against Bankman-Fried from moving or gaining access to FTX client assets. The judge also granted this motion.
On December 21, Bankman-Fried arrived back in the US from the Bahamas. The next day, he was freed on a $250 million recognizance bond, which was backed by his California family home.
New Task Force
In connection with their ongoing inquiry into Bankman-Fried and the demise of FTX, federal prosecutors recently announced the creation of a new task force to retrieve victim assets.
The US attorney's office for the Southern District of New York had claimed that Bankman-Fried had spent $8 billion of client funds on ostentatious acquisitions of real estate and other projects, such as political funding.
CNBC reports that federal prosecutors assembled the criminal charges against Bankman-Fried and prepared an indictment against him in just a few weeks.
The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission have filed complaints along with the federal allegations.
These charges were supported by two of Bankman Fried's associates, Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research, and Gary Wang, the co-founder of FTX. They both pleaded guilty to charges of fraud on Dec. 21.
On Dec. 9, Bankman-Fried was charged in federal court in New York; on December 12, at the request of US prosecutors, Bahamas law enforcement detained the former billionaire.
Related Article: FTX Lawsuit: Alameda Research Execs Claim Sam Bankman-Fried Took Billions of Dollars in Secret Loans
