Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried will appear in court on the afternoon of January 3 to plead guilty to two counts of wire fraud and six counts of conspiracy in connection with the bankruptcy of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, as reported by Reuters on December 28, citing court records. Bankman-Fried will appear before US District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan.
Judge Kaplan was assigned to the case on December 27 after the original judge on the case, Ronnie Abrams, to recuse himself due to connections between FTX and the law firm Davis Polk & Wardwell, where her husband is a partner. The firm provided advisory services to FTX in 2021.
Kaplan was appointed by US President Bill Clinton in 1994 and is known for his direct approach and effectiveness in court proceedings.
Bankman-Fried stated on numerous occasions prior to his arrest that he does not believe he is bearish of criminal liability for his actions as CEO of FTX, characterizing himself. John Ray, Bankman-Fried’s successor at FTX, told a US House Financial Services Committee hearing: “I don’t find those statements credible.”
Ray has been brutal in his assessment of Bankman-Fried’s management of the cryptocurrency exchange he co-founded. Ray said in written testimony before the House hearing:
“Never in my career have I seen such an utter failure of corporate controls at every level of an organization, from no financial statements to a complete failure of any internal control or governance at all.”
Bankman-Fried currently lives with her parents in California on $250 million bail, part of which is constituted by the capital of the house of his parents. Bankman-Fried’s release is subject to other conditions, including mental health and substance abuse evaluation and treatment.
For those of you asking, the watch Sam Trabucco wears is a Rolex Datejust with a jubilee bracelet and a diamond dial. The steel gold combo is called Rolesor. It is expensive and has worse sale value than other Rolexes. We hope you enjoyed this morning autism. Happy holidays. pic.twitter.com/ODpdAkCqdG
— Autism Capital (@AutismCapital) December 24, 2022
Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang, members of her inner circle at FTX and related trading firm Alameda Research, have pleaded guilty to their charges and have agreed to cooperate with prosecution, the US Attorney announced on December 22. of the southern district of New York, Damian Williams. The deal with Ellison and Wang was reportedly closed before then, but was kept secret until Bankman-Fried agreed to extradition from the Bahamas.
Close Bankman-Fried associates Nishad Singh, a former engineering director, and Sam Trabucco, a former co-CEO of Alameda Research with Ellison who resigned on August 24, have not yet been charged.
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