Sam Bankman-Fried likely to plead not guilty, WSJ says


© Reuters

Investing.com — FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried will likely plead not guilty to eight counts of fraud in a court hearing next week, The Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing an unnamed source. .

Bankman-Fried, or SBF as he is commonly known, was released on $250 million bond, following a settlement between his attorneys and federal prosecutors.

FTX, once valued at $32 billion, filed for bankruptcy last month after struggling to secure emergency funding to fill an $8 billion hole.

Bankman-Fried was accused of transferring client funds to cover trading losses at Alameda Research, a trading firm founded by SBF.

Gary Wang, chief technology officer of FTX, and Caroline Ellison, co-CEO of Alameda Research, who were both close associates of SBF, pleaded guilty to federal fraud charges.

Ellison said she and Bankman-Fried knowingly misled lenders about the misuse of client money.

“From 2019 to 2022, I knew Alameda had access to a borrowing facility on FTX.com, the cryptocurrency exchange run by Mr. Bankman-Fried,” Ellison said, according to a transcript of his hearing from the December 19.

By Yasin Ebrahim



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