Bankman-Fried is facing fraud and other charges in what authorities have called "a global scheme to deceive and defraud customers and lenders" of FTX and Alameda Research. — A judge on Thursday ruled that Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, can post a $250 million bond and await trial at his parent’s home in Palo Alto, California, as he faces allegations that he swindled investors and misappropriated billions of dollars’ worth of customer deposits.
Bankman-Fried made his first court appearance in the U.S. on Thursday, records show. Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicolas Roos said the 30-year-old “perpetrated a fraud of epic proportions” and recommended that he face strict bail terms, including house arrest at his parent’s home in California, The Associated Press reported.
Judge Gabriel Gorenstein ordered that Bankman-Fried be placed under pretrial supervision, including electronic monitoring, and that he surrender his passport. The judge said Bankman-Fried would later enter a plea on charges including wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Bankman-Fried appeared one day after being extradited from the Bahamas to face charges that he and others orchestrated a scheme that allowed him to use billions of FTX customer funds to make political contributions, repay loans owed by Alameda Research —a cryptocurrency hedge fund he’d founded —and for his own personal use.
Prosecutors earlier announced that two of Bankman-Fried’s associates pleaded guilty Monday to charges related to alleged schemes to defraud FTX’s customers and investors. Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research and Gary Wang, co-founder and former chief technology officer of FTX, are cooperating with prosecutors, authorities said.
In a recorded statement shared Thursday on social media, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said authorities “continue to work around the clock” to investigate alleged misconduct at FTX and Alameda Research.
“We are far from done,” he said.
Statement of U.S. Attorney Damian Williams on U.S. v. Samuel Bankman-Fried, Caroline Ellison, and Gary Wang pic.twitter.com/u1y4cs3Koz
— US Attorney SDNY (@SDNYnews) December 22, 2022
The Securities and Exchange Commission has also filed charges against Bankman-Fried.
©2022 Cox Media Group
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/cmg/XCUXZC2XYZHCRGNNGKFEX6U3LQ.png)
