Sam Bankman-Fried Pleads Not Guilty, Trial Date Set

Unlike two of his former colleagues, FTX’s co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty to criminal charges that he knowingly cheated investors.

US District Judge Lewis Kaplan set the trial date for the start of October.

• SBF was expected to have his first hearing on January 3 after his arrest in the Bahamas last month and the subsequent deportation to the United States.
• Leaked documents suggested that he would plead not guilty to the criminal charges alleging that he cheated investors by funneling the funds they deposit on FTX for his personal purposes and Alameda’s trading.
• Some of the other charges he faced in the Manhattan federal court included wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy. SBF indeed pleaded not guilty to all charges.
• Judge Lewis Kaplan set the trial date for October 2, saying it could last four weeks. If found guilty, the former crypto mogul could be sent to prison for up to 115 years.
• SBF’s plea is entirely different than those of Alameda’s former CEO – Caroline Ellison, and the ex-FTX CTO – Gary Wang, as both already pleaded guilty.
• Bankman-Fried was released on a $250 million bond before Christmas. He has to wear an electronic monitoring device while residing at his parent’s house.
• Despite the restrictions imposed by the court, there were several suspicious transactions from Alameda or personal SBF crypto wallets in the past few weeks. Bankman-Fried denied some, but US authorities will reportedly probe those transfers.
• More detailed information on the collapse of Alameda and FTX could be found in this article.