Sam Bankman-Fried pleads not guilty to charges he defrauded FTX customers

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founding father of bankrupt cryptocurrency alternate FTX, on Tuesday pleaded not responsible to costs that he defrauded prospects out of thousands and thousands of {dollars} price of digital belongings.

Sporting a backpack, Bankman-Fried marched by means of a sea of cameras as he entered the courthouse on a wet day to face earlier than Choose Lewis A. Kaplan. Bankman-Fried’s legal professional, Mark Cohen, introduced his consumer’s plea, saying: “He pleads not responsible to all counts.”

The U.S. Lawyer’s Workplace for the Southern District of New York has charged Bankman-Fried with eight counts of fraud, cash laundering and different monetary crimes. Bankman-Fried, who stepped down as FTX’s CEO in November, additionally violated political contribution legal guidelines by donating to candidates and committees in New York below one other individual’s title, authorities stated.

Extra particularly, prosecutors alleged that Bankman-Fried duped prospects by utilizing their crypto belongings to pay for money owed and bills incurred by FTX’s hedge fund, Alameda Analysis. Bankman-Fried and different high executives dedicated commodities and securities fraud in addition to created false monetary information about Alameda Analysis to defraud lenders, prosecutors stated in an indictment unsealed final month. 

Previous to his look, his attorneys despatched a letter to the choose, saying Bankman-Fried’s dad and mom in latest weeks have develop into the goal of “intense media scrutiny, harassment and threats, together with communications expressing a want that they undergo bodily hurt.”

In consequence, the attorneys requested that the names be redacted on court docket paperwork for the 2 people who have been lined as much as signal Bankman-Fried’s $250 million private recognizance bond. He was launched with digital monitoring about two weeks in the past on the situation that he await trial at his dad and mom’ home in Palo Alto, California.

Authorized consultants count on a protracted court docket battle, with prosecutors needing to to show Bankman-Fried deliberately swindled FTX prospects. 

Gary Wang, who co-founded the corporate, and former Alameda CEO Carolyn Ellison have already pleaded responsible to fraud costs. Ellison and Wang are anticipated to function authorities witnesses throughout Bankman-Fried’s trial, federal prosecutors said final month.

The Related Press contributed to this report.