The co-founder and former boss of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to fraud charges in a New York court. The federal judge has set October 2 as the start date of the trial of the man who was once credited with a fortune estimated at 26 billion, but lost everything in the bankruptcy of FTX and Alameda.
The 30-year-old ex-billionaire was released on bail last month after his extradition from the Bahamas and his indictment following the spectacular fall of FTX. Sam Bankman-Fried is suspected of having used, with collaborators, funds deposited by clients on the FTX platform to carry out speculative financial transactions through Alameda Research.
In addition to risky transactions through Alameda, he is also suspected of having invested some of this money in real estate in the Bahamas and of having made donations to Democratic political figures – always with funds from FTX clients – including Joe Biden during his presidential campaign.
Thousands of losing users
Five of the eight counts against Sam Bankman-Fried each provide for a maximum sentence of twenty years in prison. Currently under house arrest with his parents in California, he is therefore likely to spend the rest of his life in prison.
The bankruptcy of FTX on November 11 had placed thousands of users in difficulty. The cryptocurrency platform had found itself unable to cover the assets of its customers since it had transferred a large part of their funds to a sister company, the investment fund Alameda Research, which had in turn lost. this money in risky bets, in particular by placing a large part of its capital on a cryptocurrency which has collapsed.
Since November, Sam Bankman-Fried has repeatedly argued publicly that he has not been at the helm of Alameda Research for several months, indirectly incriminating the boss of the investment fund, Caroline Ellison, who pleaded guilty to several counts. charges, including fraud, and cooperates with the authorities.