Prosecution to cross-examine Bankman-Fried
FTX cofounder Sam Bankman-Fried returns to the stand Monday, when he’s likely to face a bruising cross-examination based on his Friday testimony that he made mistakes but didn’t commit fraud that led to the cryptocurrency exchange’s collapse.
Bankman-Fried was questioned by his own lawyer on Friday, and he used his time on the stand to offer alternative explanations for actions prosecutors have described as nefarious. The case against Bankman-Fried centers on allegedly fraudulent transfers of billions in FTX customer funds to an affiliated hedge fund, Alameda Research, in which he held a 90 percent interest.
The onetime crypto mogul also tried to push back on the prosecution testimony of three former close associates — FTX cofounder Gary Wang, engineering chief Nishad Singh, and Alameda chief executive Caroline Ellison, who is also Bankman-Fried’s ex-girlfriend. All three have pleaded guilty to a fraud scheme that they said Bankman-Fried masterminded.
Bankman-Fried appeared confident as he gave his testimony, which largely matched up with accounts that he gave in multiple media interviews after FTX’s November 2022 bankruptcy. He claimed he failed to oversee other executives, especially Ellison, and didn’t know until very late that Alameda had borrowed an unsustainable amount from FTX.
Unlike on Friday or during those media interviews, Bankman-Fried on Monday is expected to face federal prosecutors eager to tear apart his account. During what was essentially a dress rehearsal outside the presence of the jury on Thursday, Assistant US Attorney Danielle Sassoon appeared to rattle him with her aggressive questioning. Sassoon promised a “significant crossexamination” starting Monday.