Bankman-Fried to enter plea next week in FTX case
FTX founder Sam Bankman Fried is scheduled to be arraigned and enter a plea in federal court in Manhattan next Tuesday on criminal charges alleging wire fraud, money laundering and campaign finance violations, according to court documents filed on Wednesday.
The 30-year-old is accused of stealing billions of dollars in customer and investor funds through his Bahamas-based crypto exchange, FTX, as well his hedge fund Alameda Research.
Bankman-Fried was extradited from the Bahamas last week. He was later released on a $250 million bond to his parents' home in California.
Two members of Bankman-Fried’s inner circle, Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang, pleaded guilty to criminal charges and are cooperating with prosecutors in their investigation of FTX’s collapse, which federal officials say is ongoing.
The downfall of Bankman-Fried’a crypto empire sparked a market contagion that’s upended the digital asset industry. It’s also forced a reckoning among Washington policymakers who viewed Bankman-Fried — a major political donor — as a key industry figure in policy battles over the future of cryptocurrency regulation.
A spokesperson for Bankman-Fried declined comment.