© 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