Sam Bankman-Fried claimed in court more than 100 times on Monday that he could not remember aspects of the alleged theft of $10 billion from FTX users – but admitted his hedge fund was able to “borrow” wealth from his crypto exchange.
The smooth-talking 31-year-old cryptocurrency mogul said repeatedly on the witness stand at his federal court hearing in Manhattan that he did not remember or was “uncertain” about what he had said about his business dealings in public — including regularly promising to keep users’ funds FTX is “safe.”
He also repeatedly denied remembering what he said in private, where he called some members of the crypto community “stupid moms” and admitted to reporters that his public push for government oversight was “just PR.”
Prosecutor Danielle Sassoon then presented the jury with a mountain of tweets, emails and podcast clips revealing that the MIT graduate had actually said dozens of things he claimed not to remember.
After much pressure, Bankman-Fried finally confirmed one aspect of the extensive fraud and conspiracy case by prosecutors – that his hedge fund Alameda, in an unheard-of amount, could withdraw billions of dollars he did not have from FTX using almost unlimited. line of credit.
Sam Bankman-Fried claimed in court more than 100 times on Monday that he could not remember aspects of his alleged theft of $10 billion from FTX users.REUTERS
“That’s probably right,” said the former crypto golden boy, wearing a gray suit and purple tie and occasionally sipping from a plastic water bottle.
“You don’t deny it?” asked Sassoon.
“I’m not denying it, no,” Bankman-Fried replied.
But the disgraced former mayor appeared to retract that statement hours later.
“Is Alameda allowed to exceed the normal lending limit on the platform?” Sassoon asked after the hearing resumed after a lunch break.
“I’m not sure,” Bankman-Fried replied.
The defendant – who faces up to life in prison if convicted – appeared flustered at several points during the hearing, answering some questions he rarely answered directly with a simple, “Yes.”
Caroline Ellison, the CEO of the fund and his ex-girlfriend, was ordered to make the trade.AP//Eduardo Munoz Alvarez Ellison found and showed Sam Bankman-Fried during Bankman-Fried’s fraud trial regarding the collapse of FTX, the cryptocurrency exchange that went bankrupt on 10 Oct 2023. REUTERS
He also tried to get Sassoon to “rephrase” certain questions – drawing reprimands from the federal judge.
“Could you answer that question instead of trying to ask the asker what he meant?” An angry Judge Lewis Kaplan told the accused a liar.
When asked if he was “involved” in trading in Alameda — the hedge fund he owns 90% of — Bankman-Fried replied, “Depends on what you mean by trading.”
Sassoon then showed jurors several instances of Bankman-Fried instructing lieutenants to make trades in Alameda, including a text exchange in which he directed Caroline Ellison, the fund’s CEO and his ex-girlfriend, to make the trade.
“Sounds good,” Ellison replied.
“LOL,” replied Bankman-Fried.
Bankman-Fried did admit his hedge fund was able to “borrow” a lot of money from his crypto exchange.REUTERS
After Bankman-Fried repeatedly claimed not to “remember” public pledges to keep consumer funds safe — including in one strange rapid-fire exchange in which she said, “No, but I might have” three times in a row — Sassoon showed jurors the arrest screen tweets, ads and congressional testimony revealing he made such claims widely.
Defendant would not give a straight answer when asked whether he considered himself a “smart guy” — responding, “in many ways, not in others” — and whether he “called the shots” as FTX’s chief operating officer.
“Some of them,” the California native replied.
At one point, Sassoon suggested that Bankman-Fried had a knack for “telling a good story,” showing how she won investors and customers to her platform.
“Do you agree that you know how to tell a good story?” asked Sassoon.
“I don’t know,” Bankman-Fried replied, adding, “It depends on what metric you’re using.”
Bankman-Fried is currently incarcerated at the Brooklyn Metropolitan Detention Center. The case is set to continue Tuesday.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
