Samuel Bankman-Fried must appear before the judge to stand trial in the case FTX.
The first hearing is scheduled for this Tuesday, January 3, before the Manhattan Court of Justice.
Former FTX boss expected to plead not guilty
What version of the facts will Samuel Bankman-Fried (SBF) be able to give us to explain the incredible disaster that was FTX? Once the number 2 crypto exchange, the platform suddenly went bankrupt on November 11, taking with it billions of dollars from its customers’ accounts.
And if since a small part seems to resurface, like the 3.5 billion in assets seized by the authorities of the Bahamas, many questions remain unanswered. In any case, the former billionaire will give his first answers tomorrow during a hearing in New York.
And according to Reuters, SBF sticks to its November positions, when it explained that it had defrauded without the knowledge of its own free will. Indeed, he should plead not guilty before Judge Lewis Kaplan. As a reminder, he is accused of having used his clients’ money to finance his Alameda Research investment fund, acquire real estate and make campaign donations.
SBF may change its mind
Nothing has filtered through on the defense that he and his team of lawyers want to put in place. As a reminder, SBF agreed to his extradition to the United States last December while he was a refugee in the Bahamas, and has since been living on probation thanks to a pharaonic bail of 250 million dollars.
The investigation has for its part advanced on the file and has elements obtained from two of its former colleagues, Gary Wang and Caroline Ellison, who both pleaded guilty and are now collaborating with the investigation. And for the latter, no doubt, the management team of FTX is guilty of fraud.
If Samuel Bankman-Fried pleads not guilty on Tuesday, he will not be obliged to keep this position throughout the trial. The American legal system allows him to change his plea during the trial, and possibly plead guilty later.
Source : Reuters
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