Sam Bankman-Fried, during a congressional hearing, in February 2022 (SAUL LOEB / AFP/Archives)
The trial of American Sam Bankman-Fried, billionaire with soaring fortune, cryptocurrency idol turned pariah, began Tuesday in a New York federal court, where he faces charges of fraud and embezzlement.
The young thirty-year-old entered the courtroom alone – without being supervised by security agents -, not handcuffed, then took his place alongside his lawyers, noted an AFP journalist.
Dressed in a gray suit and striped tie, he wore a fairly short haircut that contrasted with his usual abundant curly hair.
Judge Lewis Kaplan quickly addressed him, informing him that the decision to testify “was his alone” and that he could do so at any time during the proceedings.
The defense has not indicated at this stage whether the accused intends to testify at his trial.
Jury selection began mid-morning and was not completed during this first day of hearing.
If convicted, “SBF” is likely to spend the rest of his life in prison, because the seven charges against him are punishable, in total, by more than 100 years in prison.
His story is that of the meteoric rise of a charismatic entrepreneur who seemed likely to help the world of cryptocurrencies gain respectability and stability, but who exploded mid-air.
Until the fall of 2022, he fascinated by his ability to set up, in just two years, the second largest cryptocurrency exchange platform in the world, FTX, while making it intelligible to the media, politicians and the general public. sector which was not.
Dozens of projects, a fortune estimated at up to $26 billion, an improbable look with his curly black hair and his eternal Bermuda shorts, Sam Bankman-Fried ended up single-handedly embodying the world of cryptos.
But the veneer began to crack in early November 2022, after revelations that part of the funds of FTX clients had been used, without their knowledge, to fund the Alameda subsidiary, in order to make risky investments.
A movement of panic immediately followed, individuals or commercial partners all seeking to recover their investments in a hurry, to the point of causing the fall of FTX, placed in bankruptcy.
Eight billion missing
When the dust settled, some $8.7 billion was missing, according to the receiver appointed to manage the liquidation.
Federal prosecutor Damian Williams accuses “SBF” of having diverted funds from FTX clients to inject them into Alameda, but also to buy several hundred million dollars of real estate in the Bahamas or make donations to political candidates in the States -United.
On Tuesday, Judge Kaplan explained to potential jurors, some of whom said they learned of the case through the media, that Sam Bankman-Fried was accused of having “defrauded customers” of FTX, but also investors and investors. creditors.
Chris Everdell, the lawyer of Sam Bankman-Fried (David Dee Delgado / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA/AFP)
“He was playing in his own casino,” writer Michael Lewis, who spent several hundred hours with Sam Bankman-Fried for a book coming out Tuesday, told CBS. “And that created conflicts of interest.”
“How can you not know that eight billion dollars that do not belong to you are housed in your subsidiary?” asks the best-selling author.
Charged in particular with fraud and criminal conspiracy, “SBF” was extradited at the end of December from the Bahamas, where FTX’s headquarters were located, then released upon his arrival in New York, on bail of $250 million.
But he was detained in early August by Judge Kaplan for attempted witness tampering. “He is doing well,” a source close to “SBF” told AFP, although the accused complained about his conditions of detention.
According to the prosecutor, Sam Bankman-Fried notably transmitted documents to the American daily New York Times to try to influence the testimony of Caroline Ellison, his ex-girlfriend and a former manager of Alameda.
She was indicted in this case and agreed to collaborate with the American authorities, as did three other former executives of the group.
They should be heard during the trial, scheduled to last around six weeks, which could weaken the defense of “SBF”, which has admitted management errors but not embezzlement, charging Caroline Ellison on several occasions in the process.
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2023-10-03 22:45:00
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