On Tuesday, disgraced former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty to fraud charges in a federal court in New York.
After his crypto exchange enterprise imploded last year, Bankman-Fried faces various allegations, including wire fraud and campaign finance law crimes. Bankman-Fried is accused of, among other things, misusing FTX customer funds to prop up his crypto trading firm and make political donations.
Requests for comment from a Bankman-Fried spokeswoman were not immediately entertained. Last month, the former CEO of FTX was detained in the Bahamas. Later, after his parents co-signed a $250 million bail bond, he was extradited to the United States and granted release. Tuesday, Bankman-Fried’s attorney asked the court to withhold the names of the two additional co-signers of Bankman-Fried’s bond because doing so might expose them to threats and harassment.
Following the collapse of the crypto behemoth due to a run on its native utility coin, FTX filed for bankruptcy protection in November. FTX, once valued at $32 billion, might still owe its top 50 creditors $3.1 billion.
Many of Bankman Fried’s top lieutenants have already admitted guilt and are helping with the investigation into FTX-related criminal charges.
According to U.S. Attorney Damian Williams for the Southern District of New York, Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Bankman-Fried’s Alameda Research trading company, and Gary Wang, the other co-founder of FTX, pleaded guilty to the charges.
The Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission have filed further civil complaints against Bankman-Fried.
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