SBF on trial: Is he a math nerd or was his empire built on lies?
Tom Brady and his case against Bankman-Fried: a high-stakes moment in a new York court hearing about FTX
At this time last year Bankman- Fried, the CEO of FTX, had a luxurious lifestyle and he was delivering his lines in a student play, said the assistant US attorney. Tom Brady was with Bankman-Fried. He was on magazine covers, lived in a $30 million penthouse, and met world politicians. Rehn said that the entire thing was built on lies.
Starting today, Bankman-Fried will stand trial in a New York court, accused of seven separate counts of fraud against customers, investors, and lenders. FTX collapsed after users tried to withdraw their money from the exchange but were unable to because, the Department of Justice alleges, Bankman-Fried had funneled the money into a sibling business, Alameda Research, where it was spent on high-risk crypto trades, debt repayments, personal loans, luxury purchases, and other company expenses.
Once the strength of the prosecution’s case is determined, it will be a question of whether Bankman-Fried takes the stand or not. He isn’t required to testify. It is his decision. We’ll just have to wait and see,” she says. If the government fails to win the case then the defense may feel it doesn’t need to do anything.
In a criminal case, a decision to put a person on the stand is a high-stakes moment. It exposes them to questioning by the prosecution that they might not normally avoid and also to the way specific jurors may interpret their testimony. It introduces additional variables to an environment the defense hopes to carefully control.
The judge was told by Bankman-Fried’s lawyers that he wasn’t getting his Adderall doses in prison when the jury was dismissed. The defense appeared to be setting up the grounds for an appeal — it’s previously argued that the prison withholding Adderall made it difficult for Bankman-Fried to prepare his defense. Given what I saw today, setting up an appeal seems wise. It is, at minimum, risk management.
The next witness called was Bankman-Fried’s former college (and FTX) roommate, Adam Yedidia, about whom I expect I will have much more to say tomorrow.
Cohen was not able to cross-examine the customer whose money was gone. Julliard, who was licensed as a commodities broker, was trading in crypt because he did not have to report it. Julliard didn’t review his terms of service agreement because he had assented to it.
Gisele Bndchen starred in FTX’s glossy ads, suggesting a high budget. It wouldn’t make sense to spend that much money unless FTX had very strong financials, Juilliard figured. He opened an account, transferred his money in and out of the bank, and used the exchange to buy and sell Bitcoin for several years at higher prices.
Is Sam Bankman-Fried’s Defense Even Trying to Win?: Why do Wall Street Adversaries Shouldn’t Have Risk Officers?
Man, it’s no good when your defense lawyer has just made you sound worse than the prosecution already did. Cohen tried to make a white collar defense that Bankman-Fried wasn’t too busy to manage, but it made me more suspicious. That’s why you hire a risk officer and delegate! That is the whole point. I could barely even hear Cohen blaming Caroline Ellison and Changpeng “CZ” Zhao for the debacle over the “no risk officer” ringing in my ears.
But as Cohen tried to tell me that FTX’s and Alameda’s business relationships were “reasonable under the circumstances,” the lack of risk officer kept elbowing me in the ribs. “Sam acted in good faith and took reasonable business measures” is a pretty hard pill to swallow with that in mind.
Bankman-Fried was a math nerd who didn’t party. That paints a picture of someone who’s pretty deliberate, particularly since he immediately left MIT and went to work on Wall Street. If he had been a trainwreck, I could imagine him overlooking a risk officer in order to do another line or a model. Why did the defense bring this up?
The problem with this metaphor is that if FTX was a plane, it was a plane flying with a key component missing — namely, the risk officer, an executive whose job it is to, well, manage risk. This is sort of an important thing, as risks can be anything from reputational to regulatory to financial.
Source: Is Sam Bankman-Fried’s defense even trying to win?
The trial of Sam Bankman-Fried: After a long vacation with a friend and a colleague in Silicon Valley, Is it still a mystery why he is lying?
So how was the defense going to follow it up? I was very curious, having learned yesterday that Bankman-Fried had never been offered a plea deal since he and his attorneys had told the government they wouldn’t negotiate. Surely there would be some manner of evidence, some something, that would have made him so confident.
The trial of disgraced crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried kicked off in earnest Wednesday with lawyers from both sides delivering their opening statements.
The Wall Street Journal reported his hair was shorn because he was a prisoner. He wore a suit that he bought at a discount, and it hung on him. He appeared to have lost some weight.
Bankman-Fried sat almost motionless, occasionally glancing at Rehn, as the prosecutor told the jury that Bankman-Fried sold stock in FTX and borrowed millions from lenders by lying.
The second was Bankman-Fried’s college roomate and longtime friend Adam Yevidia. He is as cooperating witness, who has been offered immunity. He worked for Alameda for two months when he was finishing a Ph.D., then was hired back by SBF as a software developer.
Marc-Antoine Juilliard and The Bankman-Fried Expansion: A Story of Coincident Money, Power, and Influence
Among the first witnesses called on to testify was a commodities trader from London, Marc-Antoine Juilliard. He said that when the exchange began to fall apart, he was unable to withdraw all his bitcoin, worth a total of $100,000.
Rehn told jurors to scrutinize their testimony carefully. But, he told them, they will offer first-hand insights into the multibillion-dollar fraud the government alleges Bankman-Fried perpetrated with their help.
Cohen encouraged jurors to be skeptical of testimony because they had pleaded guilty and could receive a lighter sentence as a result of their cooperation.
After Bankman-Fried was arrested in December, prosecutors filed criminal charges against four members of his inner circle, including Caroline Ellison, who was Bankman-Fried’s girlfriend at the time and CEO of Alameda Research.
Cohen criticized the government for displaying a photograph to the jury of Bankman-Fried in what was his trademark look before he was sent to jail in August: shorts and a t-shirt, with unkempt hair.
Bankman-Fried, who has been jailed for more than a month, appeared to pay close attention. He took notes on a laptop he is permitted to use during the trial.
Bankman-Fried lived in a $30 million apartment in The Bahamas, and he traveled all over the world on private planes. Rehn noted Bankman-Fried hung out with actors, athletes, and politicians.
The rise and fall of Bankman-Fried’s empire included the FTX exchange and a hedge fund called Alameda Research.
He had a lot of money. He had power. He had influence,” said Thane Rehn, an assistant U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York. All of that was built on lies.
Was SBF involved in appointing new CEOs? The case of Cohen-Bolton-Feynman
Was this where SBF was involved after appointing new CEOs? He also owned most of the company, so of course he would be interested. The millions spent on the penthouse in the Bahamas and the advertising? That was to attract top talent and boost the company, as any smart businessperson would do.
Ultimately, Cohen said, “it’s not a crime to be the CEO of a company that later files for bankruptcy.” When the prosecuting lawyer pointed at SBF as the person who had cheated thousands of customers, he sat stony-faced, but didn’t react to his defense team. The trial continues.
Former FTX CEO, Sam Bankman-Fried, on Monday pleaded not guilty to seven charges of fraud and money laundering. Bankman-Fried is facing trial in New York for allegedly running a Ponzi scheme and defrauding customers, investors and lenders by selling stock in FTX and borrow millions from lenders by lying. Bankman-Fried’s former roommate Adam Yedidia also testified at the trial.