A former top executive at failed cryptocurrency exchange Sam Bankman-Fried was ripped off on Monday for “excessive” and “flashy” spending – while jurors at his fraud trial were shown pictures of him posing with Katy Perry, Orlando Bloom and Kate Hudson at the 2022 Super Bowl.
Nishad Singh, a former lead engineer at FTX, detailed in Manhattan federal court how the fallen crypto-prince exchange is now bankrupt and its affiliated hedge fund, Alameda Research, spent hundreds of millions on celebrity endorsement deals and luxury real estate purchases.
“It all reeked of excess and brilliance,” Singh testified.
Among the evidence presented to the jury was a photo — posted by pop star Perry on her Instagram — of a grinning Bankman-Fried flirting with celebrities in luxury box seats at a February NFL championship game that took place months before the FTX explosion on That November.
Also in the picture were executives from venture capital firm K5 Global, which Bankman-Fried paid hundreds of millions of dollars in bonuses to connect her with A-listers such as Leonardo DiCaprio and Kylie Jenner and with Hillary Clinton at dinner parties, according to trial testimony.
K5 is run by Michael Kives, a former Clinton aide turned Hollywood super agent.
Bankman-Fried spent hundreds of millions of company dollars so that venture capital funds could connect him with celebrities, trial testimony showed. Katy Perry / Instagram
“We can get from them an infinite number of connections,” Bankman-Fried boasted of the Kives company in an internal memo shown to the jury.
“I thought if we asked them to arrange dinner with us, Elon [Musk]Obama, Rihanna and [Mark] Zuckerberg in a month, they will probably succeed,” added the accused fraudster.
Singh testified that he complained to Bankman-Fried that he was “embarrassed” and “embarrassed” by the company’s spending — and that it “wasn’t in line with what I thought we were building the company for.”
But Bankman-Fried — who his ex-girlfriend and former business partner testified would lie and steal as long as he believed he was pursuing the “greater good” of society — told Singh that access to celebrity was essential to the company’s growth, former employees testified.
Former FTX engineer Nashad Singh testified that he told Bankman-Fried he was uncomfortable with the company’s “excessive” spending. DANIEL WILLIAM MCKNIGHT
The jury also saw an internal spreadsheet detailing the $1.13 billion Bankman-Fried’s company spent on lavish sponsorships and celebrity endorsements to boost its image as a “safe” way to buy and sell digital currency.
The offer includes: $205 million for naming rights to the Miami Heat’s NBA arena; $150 million to put the FTX logo on Major League Baseball jerseys; $28.5 million to pro-baller Stephen Curry; $50 million to football star Tom Brady and model Gisele Bündchen; and $10 million to comedian Larry David.
Bankman-Fried also bought a penthouse apartment in the Bahamas worth about $35 million over Singh’s objections that it was too flashy, according to the affidavit.
Pop star Katy Perry was among the celebrities pictured hanging out with the fallen crypto king at the Super Bowl.Katy Perry / Instagram
“Sam loved the look,” Singh testified.
FTX sued the Kives company in June seeking $700 million that Bankman-Fried allegedly allowed to be spent on the company despite no payment to FTX or its customers – who footed the bill.
Bankman-Fried, 31, has pleaded not guilty to fraud and conspiracy charges stemming from his alleged theft of more than $8 billion in FTX consumer funds to cover losses in Alameda.
Assistant US Attorney Nicolas Roos questions Nishad Singh at the Sam Bankman-Fried fraud trial on Oct. 16.REUTERS
He faces up to life in prison, if convicted.
Singh will face questioning by Bankman-Fried’s defense attorney on Tuesday.
The trial is expected to last until at least November.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
