Sam Bankman-Fried, known in the crypto world and now renowned globally as SBF, is out on bail, which was set at £250 million. This comes as Gary Wang, the former CTO of FTX, and Caroline Ellison, the previous CEO of Alameda (a sister company to FTX), have done deals with prosecutors. What now comes next in the saga of the FTX collapse?
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Bankman-Fried Bailed
SBF waived his right to contest his extradition from the Bahamas on Tuesday and was extradited to the US on Wednesday. At 13:00 ET on Thursday, December 22, he appeared in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York before Magistrate Judge Gabriel Gorenstein, with the case concentrating on accusations of money laundering, fraud, and campaign-finance violations. Bankman-Fried was not asked to enter a plea, whilst after the hearing, Mark Cohen, his defence lawyer, declined to comment. SBF was released on a $250 million bond package, secured by equity in his parents' home in Palo Alto, California. According to the agreement, further stipulations for him to remain free while he faces charges included electronic monitoring, not being allowed to leave the house apart from to exercise, not being able to make financial transactions over $1,000, is not able to open new credit lines and adhere to mental-health and substance-abuse treatments.
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YOUR CAPITAL IS AT RISK. 76% OF RETAIL CFD ACCOUNTS LOSE MONEY
Bankman-Fried's Associates Plead Guilty
The top federal prosecutor in Manhattan, Damian Williams, has announced that Caroline Ellison, the former Alameda CEO and Gary Wang, a co-founder of FTX (two of Bankman-Fried's closest associates), were cooperating with prosecutors and had pleaded guilty to federal charges, admitting guilt in securities violations and to defrauding investors in the crypto trading platform. Furthermore, they have confessed that senior management was aware of lawbreaking in the movement of customer funds between Alameda and FTX.
In a separate statement this week, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said it had also charged Ellison and Wang in a multiyear scheme to defraud FTX equity investors, whilst the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) also said it had filed charges of fraud against the pair.
What Comes Next?
Bankman-Fried’s next court date has been set for the afternoon of 3rd January 2023, in New York City. Until then, he will wear an electronic monitoring device whilst living with his parents (well-known law professors at Stanford University), in San Francisco, California.
YOUR CAPITAL IS AT RISK. 76% OF RETAIL CFD ACCOUNTS LOSE MONEY.