On Thursday, ex-FTX CEO SBF pleaded not guilty to the latest federal charges, which he does not admit.
infamous ex ftx CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (sbf) recently Pledge Pleading not guilty to five additional federal fraud and bribery charges. SBF appeared in a New York federal court on Thursday to plead not guilty to the latest charges related to the collapse of FTX.
In a superseding indictment Tuesday, the Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York disclosed the criminal charges. In its third round of charges against Bankman-Fried, the US Attorney’s Office alleged that the SBF bribed a foreign government, However, Mark Cohen, a lawyer for the former FTX boss, plans to file a motion that would see his client not tried on all counts. According to SBF’s legal team, although the ex-FTX CEO pleaded not guilty, he did not admit to the latest charges. This is because persons extradited under the US-Bahamas treaty can only face trial for the charges for their extradition. Therefore, a spokesperson for Bankman-Fried said, “We will challenge the new allegations when the motion is filed.”
A closer look at the latest charges to which the SBF pleaded not guilty
The latest allegation claims that SBF transferred no less than $40 million in cryptocurrency to a Chinese government official. According to prosecutors, this kickback facilitated transactions related to Bankman-Fried’s hedge fund Alameda Research. Part of this feature includes unfreezing FTX affiliate trading accounts.
Prosecutors said the SBF and its affiliates had tried several methods to unfreeze the accounts, which held $1 billion in crypto. The alleged kickbacks came after legal and personal efforts to access the former FTX boss’s account failed.
After successfully liquidating the assets, prosecutors alleged that Almeida continued to defraud investors for another year by funding loss-making trades.
In addition to the alleged bribery, other new charges include counts of conspiracy related to wire and securities fraud. Prosecutors also accused the SBF of running an unlicensed money transmission business and making illegal contributions to politicians in the US.
SBF appeared in the court looking extremely disorderly pleaded not guilty 8 other criminal charges in early January. All the allegations were related to the sudden and dramatic collapse of FTX and Alameda Research last November. These include money laundering conspiracy, misappropriation of customer funds and wire fraud.
Although the SBF then denied any wrongdoing, its colleagues Carolyn Allison and Gary Wang pleaded guilty to the charges brought against them. Ellison and Wang both entered plea deals and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in exchange for a lighter sentence. In addition, both agreed to confiscate large amounts of money as punitive measures.
sbf test set for october
The trial of SBF is starting from 2nd October this year. If convicted, Bankman-Fried could spend up to 115 years in federal prison. The once-famous crypto wunderkind has been on bail since being extradited to the US from the Bahamas in late December 2022.
Bankman-Fried lives in hiding at her parents’ home in California and is prohibited from using a smartphone with Internet access.
Tolu is a cryptocurrency and blockchain enthusiast based in Lagos. He likes to strip crypto stories down to the basics so that anyone anywhere can understand without a lot of background knowledge. When he is not delving deep into crypto stories, Tolu enjoys music, loves to sing and is an avid movie lover.
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