Ex-FTX chief Sam Bankman-Fried is considering pleading not guilty to fraud after being charged with running a scam at the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange, a US media outlet has quoted unnamed sources as saying.
The sources claimed that on January 3, Bankman-Fried is due to appear before a federal court in Manhattan where he is expected to enter pleas of not guilty to a slew of offences.
This comes after a New York judge said last week that the 30-year-old had been released to his parents on $250 million bail ahead of trial for eight federal criminal charges against him pertaining to alleged fraud, money laundering and campaign finance violations at FTX.
This photo illustration shows the logo of cryptocurrency FTX, reflected in its website on a laptop screen in Washington, DC, on November 13, 2022.
© AFP 2023 / STEFANI REYNOLDS
The embattled former billionaire faces charges of unlawfully using customer deposits, made at the crypto exchange, to shore up the hedge fund Alameda Research, buy property and make millions of dollars in political donations.
Prosecutors described the Sam Bankman-Fried case as "one of the biggest financial frauds in US history," with prosecutor Nicolas Roos arguing that the ex-FTX boss carried out a "fraud of epic proportions" that led to the loss of billions of dollars of customer and investor funds.
Alameda Research’s former chief executive Caroline Ellison, along with FTX co-founder Gary Wang, pleaded guilty to multiple counts of conspiracy and fraud for their roles in the fraud scheme that resulted in the collapse of the crypto-trading platform. Both are currently cooperating with prosecutors as part of their plea agreements.
FTX filed for bankruptcy on November 11, with Bankman-Fried stepping down and fleeing for the Bahamas. He was arrested on December 12 at the request of US authorities.