As a court scheduled his trial to begin on Oct. 2, FTX creator Sam Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty to fraud and other criminal allegations.
Bankman-Fried, 30, pleaded not guilty to all eight criminal charges he faces in federal court on Wednesday. In the U.S., he made his second appearance. Following the failure of his cryptocurrency exchange, he was sentenced to prison.
Prosecutors claim he looted billions of dollars from FTX and defrauded investors and lenders in his trading firm, Alameda Research, stealing billions of dollars. When he made millions of dollars in illegal political donations financed by Alameda, prosecutors said he also avoided campaign finance limits and reporting obligations.
Mr. Bankman-Fried has admitted to making errors while running the firm and claims he didn’t mean to commit fraud.
The former CEO, arrested in his parents’ California residence and then transported to New York for the hearing, sat at the defense table with his attorneys, who entered a plea on his behalf. According to assistant attorney Danielle Sassoon, the October trial will last about four weeks. On the other hand, Mark Cohen, representing Mr. Bankman-Fried, predicted it would last two to three weeks.
The Next Court Date Was Set for May 18 by Judge Kaplan
Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang, two of Bankman-Fried’s associates, pleaded guilty to similar charges last month and are assisting prosecutors in their inquiry into the alleged fraud. According to the attorney for the Southern District of New York, they established an FTX task force. It brings together prosecutors from numerous divisions focused on securities fraud, public corruption, and money laundering. “We are working around the clock to react to the FTX implosion,” Williams stated.
On Tuesday, Bankman-Fried’s attorneys sent a letter to the Manhattan federal court. They requested redactions of the names of two individuals who want to assist in securing his multimillion-dollar bail to protect them from public scrutiny.
Once his parents “have recently been the target of intense media scrutiny, harassment, and threats,” the attorneys claimed there was no need for public disclosure. Mr. Bankman-Fried’s parents received many threatening messages, including some saying they wished for physical harm.
