Tag: Ellison, Caroline (1994- )

Sam Bankman-Fried Is Found Guilty of 7 Counts of Fraud and Conspiracy

Sam Bankman-Fried, the tousle-haired mogul who founded the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, was convicted on Thursday of seven charges of fraud and conspiracy after a monthlong trial that laid bare the rampant hubris and risk-taking across the crypto industry. Mr. Bankman-Fried became a symbol of crypto’s excesses last year when FTX collapsed and he was charged […]

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Sam Bankman-Fried Denies Knowing FTX Money Was Missing, as He Concludes Testimony

Over and over on Tuesday, Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the failed FTX cryptocurrency exchange, denied knowing that billions of dollars in customer money had been misappropriated until shortly before his company collapsed last year, as a federal prosecutor grilled him for a second day in his criminal fraud trial. The 31-year-old onetime crypto mogul […]

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Here Are the Biggest Moments of Sam Bankman-Fried’s Trial So Far

Over the past three weeks, former employees and friends of Sam Bankman-Fried have testified that he orchestrated a scheme to misappropriate billions of dollars in customer money from his FTX cryptocurrency exchange, which collapsed last year. The witnesses have painted a portrait of Mr. Bankman-Fried, 31, as a controlling boss who directed them to commit […]

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The Challenges Facing Sam Bankman-Fried’s Lawyers

On the second day of Sam Bankman-Fried’s fraud trial this month, one of the lawyers for the cryptocurrency mogul delivered an emphatic message to the jury. Mr. Bankman-Fried is not a criminal, the lawyer declared, and every decision that led to the collapse of his FTX crypto exchange had been made in “good faith.” That […]

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Crypto Influencers and ‘Degenerates’ Flock to Sam Bankman-Fried’s Trial

A parade of powerful legal minds has gathered over the last three weeks at the criminal trial of Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced cryptocurrency mogul. Damian Williams, the top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, has sat for hours in the 26th-floor courtroom, alongside partners at prestigious law firms and a former deputy to Robert Mueller III, who […]

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Sam Bankman-Fried’s Trial Reveals New Details of How FTX Died

On the morning of Nov. 6, Nishad Singh, a top executive at the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, sent a message in a group chat with two senior colleagues. Customers were rushing to withdraw funds from the exchange, he wrote. Within the last day, they had tried to move $1.25 billion off the platform, and $120 million […]

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Caroline Ellison, Star Witness in Sam Bankman-Fried Trial, Says He Made ‘Terrible Mistakes’

A lawyer for Sam Bankman-Fried on Thursday sought to undermine the testimony of Caroline Ellison, the prosecution’s star witness in his criminal fraud trial, as she continued to insist that the onetime crypto mogul was behind the misuse of billions of dollars in customer money at his FTX exchange. Over about five hours of cross-examination, […]

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Sam Bankman-Fried’s Closest Friends Become His Foes in Courtroom Clash

When Sam Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency exchange collapsed in November, one of his oldest friends sent him a message of support. “I love you, Sam,” said Adam Yedidia, a college classmate of Mr. Bankman-Fried’s who went on to work for him at the exchange, FTX. “I am not going anywhere. Don’t worry.” Within days, Mr. Yedidia had […]

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Caroline Ellison Says She and Sam Bankman-Fried Were ‘Dishonest’

Caroline Ellison, who was a top adviser to the disgraced cryptocurrency executive Sam Bankman-Fried, said on Wednesday that he directed her to send “dishonest” balance sheets to major lenders of the trading firm she ran for him. In her second day testifying in Mr. Bankman-Fried’s criminal fraud trial, Ms. Ellison said she prepared the phony […]

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Caroline Ellison, Adviser to Sam Bankman-Fried, Says He ‘Directed’ Her to Commit Crimes

Caroline Ellison, a close adviser and former girlfriend of the disgraced cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman-Fried, said on Tuesday that she conspired with him to steal billions of dollars from customers of his exchange, FTX. Ms. Ellison took the witness stand in front of a packed room at the federal courthouse in Manhattan, where Mr. Bankman-Fried […]

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‘Don’t Do That Again’: Sam Bankman-Fried’s Lawyers Under Fire From Judge

Three days into Sam Bankman-Fried’s criminal trial in Federal District Court in Manhattan, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan’s warnings to the defense had become unmistakable. Judge Kaplan, who is presiding over the high-profile white collar fraud case, repeatedly told Mr. Bankman-Fried’s lawyers to stop repeating themselves. Over and over, he directed them to rephrase their questions. […]

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What to Know About Sam Bankman-Fried’s Fraud Trial

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the collapsed FTX cryptocurrency exchange, is set to stand trial on Tuesday, after a yearlong corporate saga that has made headlines around the world and devastated the digital asset industry. Here’s what to know about his case. What is Mr. Bankman-Fried accused of? Federal prosecutors have charged Mr. Bankman-Fried with […]

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Crypto Goes on Trial, as Sam Bankman-Fried Faces His Reckoning

A year ago, Sam Bankman-Fried was a fixture on magazine covers and in the halls of Congress, a tousle-haired crypto billionaire who hobnobbed with movie stars and bankrolled political campaigns. On Tuesday, the founder of the failed FTX digital currency exchange is set to leave the jail where he has been confined for more than […]

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‘One of the Most Hated People in the World’: Sam Bankman-Fried’s 250 Pages of Justifications

At the end of a 15,000-word Twitter thread he never posted, Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, offered a blunt assessment of his predicament. “I’m broke and wearing an ankle monitor and one of the most hated people in the world,” he wrote. “There will probably never be anything I can […]

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