Sam Bankman-Fried, the shady character behind the collapse of FTX, which costs investors and innocent people billions of collective dollars, finally revealed where he stands on facing a number of fraud-related charges.
According to Yahoo Finance, Bankman-Fried pleaded "not guilty" to 8 counts of wire fraud, securities fraud, and conspiracy.
At the crux of the charges was what the disgraced entrepreneur did with billions of funds from the collapsed FTX crypto exchange.
Yahoo Finance noted: "U.S. prosecutors allege that under Bankman-Fried’s direction, FTX, once considered one of the largest and most-trusted cryptocurrency exchanges, transferred billions in customer assets to his trading firm, Alameda Research."
Bankman-Fried, 30, denied charges accusing him of illegally diverting massive sums of customer money from FTX to make lavish real estate purchases, donate money to politicians, and make risky trades at Alameda Research. https://t.co/r5acYqFJJB
— 21Alive News (@ABC21WPTA) January 4, 2023
Bankman-Fried will face trial for his charges on Oct. 2.
If convicted on the charges, he faces an astonishing 115 years behind bars.
Yahoo News added: "Bankman-Fried initially appeared before the court on December 22, following his extradition from custody in The Bahamas after his December 12 arrest. Bankman-Fried has been free on a $250 million bond at his parents' home in Palo Alto, California."
Bankman-Fried was released from custody with electronic monitoring two weeks ago to await trial at his parents' house in Palo Alto, California. https://t.co/ekDTPrUX38
— 12NewsNow (@12NewsNow) January 4, 2023
Camera crews and reporters swarmed Bankman-Fried as he arrived at the courthouse with a bodyguard, his mother, and his lawyers. Inside, he sat next to Mark Cohen and Christian Everdale of the law firm Cohen and Gresser, his high-powered legal team.
Judge Lewis Kaplan presided over Bankman-Fried's arraignment, which came after Judge Ronnie Abrams recusing himself from the case due to pre-existing related business relationships.
Yahoo Finance reported that court testimony from Tuesday showed that "FTX spent customer funds in myriad ways, including crypto trading, venture capital investments, Bahamian real estate purchases, over $1 billion in loans to FTX executives, and nearly $80 million in political contributions."
Bankman-Fried's parents, and two unidentified individuals, helped free him from being detained by covering an astonishing $250 million bond. His lawyers even made sure to petition the court to keep secret the other two individuals who helped get Bankman-Fried out of prison for now.
*Dont worry-Sam already shifted enough money he'll be OK even if he serves a short jail term "A judge just blocked Sam Bankman-Fried from accessing FTX and Alameda funds days after reports of transactions from crypto walletshttps://t.co/fWMSPB6NOC via @YahooNews
— RicZar (@bullitt4248) January 4, 2023