Sam Bankman-Fried’s ex-girlfriend Caroline Ellison faced the disgraced crypto giant in court on Tuesday — directly telling jurors that she was to blame for deciding to steal billions in FTX client funds.
“He directed me to commit this crime,” Ellison said in Manhattan federal court, during his highly anticipated testimony at the trial where Bankman-Fried faces felony fraud charges stemming from the November 2022 loss of $8 billion from his cryptocurrency exchange. now bankrupt. .
Ellison, 28, also set the record straight about why her on-and-off romance with the slain crypto mogul, 31, ended — accusing him of being emotionally distant and not paying enough attention to their relationship while they were living together in a house. $35 million Bahamas penthouse.
“There was a common theme that I wanted more of in our relationship,” Ellison told jurors. “I feel like he’s distant or not paying attention to me.”
The former CEO of Alameda Research and ex-girlfriend of Bankman-Fried is now serving as the prosecution’s main witness.REUTERS
The Stanford-educated mathematician revealed that the couple first slept together in the fall of 2018, and continued for about a year, from summer 2020 to summer 2021.
During the entire relationship, Bankman-Fried “was also my boss at work, which created some awkward situations,” Ellison testified.
Bankman-Fried – who tends to crunch numbers on every aspect of her life – oddly boasted during their courtship that there was a “five percent chance that she would be president one day,” Ellison told the court.
Caroline Ellison leaves Manhattan federal court on Tuesday.AP The Stanford-educated mathematician revealed that the couple first slept together in the fall of 2018, and continued dating for about a year, from summer 2020 to summer 2021.ZUMAPRESS. com Wearing thin rectangular glasses, a mauve dress and a gray blazer, Ellison did not make eye contact with her former flame as she entered a packed federal courtroom in lower Manhattan just before 1 p.m.ZUMAPRESS.com
“What president?” asked federal prosecutor Danielle Sassoon.
“The United States,” Ellison replied.
Wearing thin rectangular glasses, a mauve dress and a gray blazer, Ellison didn’t make eye contact with her former flame as she entered a packed federal courtroom in lower Manhattan just before 1 p.m.
When Sassoon asked him how he knew the former crypto golden boy, Ellison said that they “dated for a few years,” then noted that the relationship was on and off between the summer of 2020 and the spring of 2022.
Ellison was then asked if he committed a crime as CEO of crypto hedge fund Bankman-Fried, Alameda – which the feds say stole $8 billion in FTX user deposits to pay lenders.
Ellison left court after testifying Tuesday.AP
“Yes,” said Ellison, who has pleaded guilty to his role in the scheme and is testifying in hopes of receiving a lighter sentence.
Sassoon asked Ellison to explain Bankman-Fried’s involvement in the alleged scheme.
“He was originally the CEO of Alameda, and after that, the owner of Alameda, and he ordered me to commit this crime,” said Ellison, who spoke softly and clearly during most of his testimony.
Despite their romance, Ellison testified that Bankman-Fried did not raise her $200,000 base salary after appointing her to run Alameda as joint chief executive in October 2021 — while the couple was “on vacation,” Ellison said.
Ellison did receive a $20 million bonus while leading the fund, he testified. But that amount, while surprising, is far less than what Bankman-Fried himself and FTX co-founder Gary Wang were paid in the same time period.
Caroline Ellison says her relationship with Sam Bankman-Fried ended because he didn’t pay enough attention to her.Brigitte Stelzer
Bankman-Fried also denied Ellison’s request to own a portion of Alameda even after he took over as sole CEO, and continued to have a say in the fund’s big decisions — including using FTX client funds without disclosing them, he testified.
“I run the day-to-day decisions, but for any major decision, I’ll always run it by Sam,” Ellison said.
Ellison initially had a little trouble identifying Bankman-Fried – who had ditched his trademark T-shirt and cargo shorts for a suit and his messy hairdo for a new, shorter one.
But after standing up from the witness chair and looking around for a full minute, he finally chose his former lover to sit with his lawyer at the defense table.
“He’s over there, wearing a suit,” she said, gesturing to her former lover with her hand.
Barbara Fried and Joseph Bankman, the parents of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried walked out of Manhattan federal court on Tuesday.AP Bankman-Fried and Ellison live with other roommates in a $35 million Bahamas penthouse.DOJ
Ellison walked right next to Bankman-Fried to leave the courtroom for the lunch break and at the end of Tuesday.
Both times, Bankman-Fried stared straight ahead and did not make eye contact with him.
Ellison is just the latest former FTX insider to testify against Bankman-Fried.
Ellison has pleaded guilty to fraud and testified in hopes of receiving a lighter sentence.Alameda Research
Wang – who has also pleaded guilty to fraud charges and cooperating with the feds – has already testified that Bankman-Fried ordered him to write computer code that allowed Alameda to withdraw FTX users’ funds “unlimitedly”, leaving users in the dark.
Adam Yedidia, a former FTX developer, told jurors that he resigned from the company – days after texting his former boss, “I love you, Sam” – when he discovered that the firm was repaying its creditors using customer deposits.
“What Alameda did seemed like the wrong thing to do,” Yedidia testified.
Ellison is expected to resume his testimony Wednesday morning.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
