Ex-FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried To Enter 'Not Guilty' Plea In Fraud Case

The ongoing prosecution case gained weight against Bankman-Fried as two of his former associates pleaded guilty to seven and four different criminal allegations, respectively.

In the past, Sam Bankman-Fried said that he made many mistakes in operating the company, but he did not think he had any criminal liabilities.

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Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of the embattled crypto exchange FTX, will enter a not-guilty plea on Tuesday, January 3. He is expected to file a plea of not guilty to multiple criminal charges levelled against him for allegedly cheating investors in the company. Bankman-Fried has also been accused of looting billions of dollars from the FTX firm that went bankrupt in early November last year. According to a Reuters report, he will appear before US District Judge Lewis Kaplan on Tuesday in Manhattan. His lawyer has not commented on the matter.

In most criminal cases, defendants start pleading not guilty, and they are at liberty to change their plea during the later stages of the case hearing.

Bankman-Fried has been out on bail after signing a $250 million bond package and agreeing to be placed under house arrest at his parents' home. This happened after his extradition from the Bahamas in December 2022. His company was based out of the Bahamas, where he also resided. In the wake of his release on bail, he has been under tight media glare and monitoring.

He has been charged with multiple frauds and several conspiracy allegations. These include money laundering and financial violation cases. Bankman-Fried could be put behind bars for up to 115 years, provided that he is convicted.

He has been accused of misusing FTX customers' deposit money to assist his Alameda Research hedge fund in illegal ways. According to a Reuters report, he made millions of dollars and purchased real estate.

In the past, he said that he made many mistakes in operating the company, but he did not think he had any criminal liabilities. After he established the FTX in 2019, he rose up to be a billionaire as his firm became hugely successful in the crypto industry.

The ongoing prosecution case gained weight against Bankman-Fried as two of his former associates filed guilty pleas earlier. Caroline Ellison, Almeda Research's head, and Gary Wang, former chief technology officer of the FTX, pleaded guilty to seven and four different criminal allegations, respectively.

Ellison informed the prosecutors that she was in agreement with Bankman-Fried to hide the borrowing of large sums of money from the firm. They both kept it a secret from investors, lenders, and customers.

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