FTX founder Bankman-Fried pleads not guilty
Zachary Halaschak Christopher Hutton
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Disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty to a litany of criminal charges in New York federal court.
Bankman-Fried, 30, was arrested in the Bahamas last month and charged for his role in the dramatic November collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange. He was recently extradited to the United States. If found guilty, Bankman-Fried could spend years in prison.
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Bankman-Fried faces eight charges from the Southern District of New York and allegations from the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Future Trading Commission.
The Department of Justice announced on Dec. 27 that it was investigating the theft of $372 million from FTX’s accounts on Nov. 12, a day after the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protections. Authorities are protecting the remaining assets in the Bahamas, which announced that it had acquired $3.5 billion of FTX’s remaining assets and intended to distribute them to customers once the Bahamian Supreme Court approved it.
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Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas and extradited to the United States, where he appeared in court for the first time last week. He was released on $250 million bail and was forced to live with his parents. He is expected to enter a plea deal as early as next week.
That has not stopped him from receiving visitors. The Big Short author Michael Lewis visited Bankman-Fried last Friday for several hours, the latest meeting between the two over six months for a book deal.