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| FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried pleads not guilty to bribery charges | |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| Bankman-Fried, 31, has already pleaded not guilty to eight counts over collapse of cryptocurrency exchange last year | Bankman-Fried, 31, has already pleaded not guilty to eight counts over collapse of cryptocurrency exchange last year |
| The FTX cryptocurrency exchange founder Sam Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty on Thursday to new US criminal charges, which include conspiring to violate campaign finance laws and bribe Chinese authorities. | |
| Bankman-Fried, 31, had earlier pleaded not guilty to eight counts of fraud and conspiracy for allegedly stealing billions in FTX customer funds to plug losses at his hedge fund, Alameda Research. | |
| The new charges add to the pressure on Bankman-Fried, who faces a possible sentence of decades in prison if convicted at a trial set to start on 2 October. | The new charges add to the pressure on Bankman-Fried, who faces a possible sentence of decades in prison if convicted at a trial set to start on 2 October. |
| Bankman-Fried, 31, entered the plea to the new, 13-count indictment through his lawyer, Mark Cohen, at a hearing before US district judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan federal court. | |
| Cohen said he was planning to challenge the new charges because they were brought after Bankman-Fried was extradited from the Bahamas, where he was arrested in December and where FTX was based. | |
| Bankman-Fried was arrested after a flurry of customer withdrawals spurred by concerns about commingling of funds between the exchange and Alameda prompted the collapse of now-bankrupt FTX. | |
| The initial indictment by the US attorney’s office in Manhattan contained few details about the alleged scheme. In an unusual post-arrest blogpost, the former billionaire acknowledged inadequate risk management at FTX, but said he did not steal funds. | The initial indictment by the US attorney’s office in Manhattan contained few details about the alleged scheme. In an unusual post-arrest blogpost, the former billionaire acknowledged inadequate risk management at FTX, but said he did not steal funds. |
| Prosecutors in late February filed a new 12-count indictment elaborating on the fraud charges and accusing Bankman-Fried of illicitly contributing tens of millions of dollars to US political campaigns through straw donors, part of a strategy to buy influence in Washington. | Prosecutors in late February filed a new 12-count indictment elaborating on the fraud charges and accusing Bankman-Fried of illicitly contributing tens of millions of dollars to US political campaigns through straw donors, part of a strategy to buy influence in Washington. |
| And on Tuesday, prosecutors moved to unseal yet another indictment, which accused Bankman-Fried of conspiring to violate an anti-bribery law by orchestrating a $40m payment to Chinese authorities to regain access to $1bn in cryptocurrency in Alameda accounts that had been frozen. | And on Tuesday, prosecutors moved to unseal yet another indictment, which accused Bankman-Fried of conspiring to violate an anti-bribery law by orchestrating a $40m payment to Chinese authorities to regain access to $1bn in cryptocurrency in Alameda accounts that had been frozen. |
| Three former members of Bankman-Fried’s inner circle – former Alameda chief executive Caroline Ellison, former FTX technology chief Zixao “Gary” Wang, and former FTX engineering director Nishad Singh – have all pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. | Three former members of Bankman-Fried’s inner circle – former Alameda chief executive Caroline Ellison, former FTX technology chief Zixao “Gary” Wang, and former FTX engineering director Nishad Singh – have all pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. |
| Bankman-Fried is confined to his parents’ Palo Alto, California, home on $250m bond pending trial. Earlier this week, US district judge Lewis Kaplan approved modifications to Bankman-Fried’s bail package that are designed to prevent the defendant from tampering with witnesses. | Bankman-Fried is confined to his parents’ Palo Alto, California, home on $250m bond pending trial. Earlier this week, US district judge Lewis Kaplan approved modifications to Bankman-Fried’s bail package that are designed to prevent the defendant from tampering with witnesses. |