From 25m agoKey events13m agoCustomers ‘had no way to know SBF took billions of dollars and spent it’, says prosecution15m agoBankman-Fried ‘used Caroline Ellison as a front’, says prosecution25m agoBankman-Fried’s wealth and power ‘built on lies’, says prosecution1h agoOpening statements due in trial after jury selection completed2h agoTrial resumes with jury selection3h agoSam Bankman-Fried’s parents arrive at court3h agoWhat will the defense be?4h agoWhat to expect from the trial of Sam Bankman-Fried4h agoWhat is Sam Bankman-Fried accused of?4h agoWhat will happen if he is convicted?4h agoBankman-Fried’s ex-girlfriend expected to be prosecutors’ star witnessFilters BETAKey events (11)Sam Bankman-Fried (18)FTX (11)Lewis Kaplan (9)Alameda Research (8)Bankman-Fried (7)11m ago12.49 EDTFiles pertaining to the trail of Sam Bankman-Fried arrive at federal court in New York City. Photograph: Brendan McDermid/Reuters13m ago12.47 EDTCustomers ‘had no way to know SBF took billions of dollars and spent it’, says prosecution
The prosecution also started to get into the inner-workings of the alleged financial misdeeds.
“Customers sometimes deposited dollars [into] FTX to trade crypto. When customers sent dollars to FTX, the company would tell them that the money was in their accounts at FTX,” Thane Rehn said.
The money never actually made it to FTX. Instead, the defendant opened a bank account that was under the control of Alameda, his other company.
So when customers thought their money was going into the exchange, they were actually sending their money right into the defendant’s pocket.
The defendant took billions of dollars in FTX customer deposits from Alameda bank accounts and he spent it – and the customers had no way to know that their money was being used in this way.
15m ago12.45 EDTBankman-Fried ‘used Caroline Ellison as a front’, says prosecution
Prosecutor Thane Rehn alluded to Caroline Ellison’s role in the companies’ downfall, describing her as his romantic partner installed as Alameda’s leader.
He was using her as a front — in reality, he was still calling the shots at Alameda.
Ellison, the former chief executive to FTX sister company Alameda Research, pleaded guilty late last year to seven offences including wire fraud, securities fraud and money laundering.
Updated at 12.51 EDT20m ago12.40 EDT
Prosecutor Thane Rehn is painting a portrait of Sam Bankman-Fried as a sort of Pied Piper of crypto –allegedly luring hapless victims into believing their money was safe by repeatedly reassuring them.
“The defendant assured customers that FTX was holding their money for them and that they would be able to withdraw their money whenever they wanted,” Rehn said.
He also said that FTX would not use customer money for itself… In other words, the defendant promised customers that the money they put into FTX was still there money — it was not FTX’s money.
The…
2023-10-04 11:49:01
Original from <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/business/live/2023/oct/04/sam-bankman-fried-trial-ftx-live-updates” target=”_blank” style=”color:blue” rel=”noopener”>www.theguardian.com
rnrn