Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried Testifies on Relationship and Political Donations in Court

Sam Bankman-Fried’s defense attorney, Mark Cohen, heard the former FTX CEO’s testimony about his relationship with Caroline Ellison and political donations from the cryptocurrency exchange.

According to court reports on October 27, Bankman-Fried he claimed not having discussed donations to US politicians with former FTX engineering director Nishad Singh and former FTX Digital Markets co-CEO Ryan Salame. Bankman-Fried reportedly said that the donations made in her name came from “loans from Alameda Research” as part of efforts to influence US government policies regarding cryptocurrency regulation.

“[…] I thought politics was important. Congress and the Executive Branch… Some were [partidarios de] FTX regarding influence on cryptocurrency regulation. Some, but not the majority.”

Cohen also asked questions of a more personal nature, apparently unrelated to the allegations Bankman-Fried faced in court. The defense attorney asked Bankman-Fried what led to the end of her relationship with Ellison.

“She wanted more than I could give,” the former FTX CEO reportedly said, referring to Ellison. “It wasn’t the first time with me.”

During her testimony, Ellison said the relationship ended because Bankman-Fried “wasn’t spending a lot of time” with her. Cohen asked the former FTX CEO the reasons behind his hairstyle, to which he responded that his hairstyle was a result of being “lazy”, while he found it “comfortable” to wear shorts and t-shirts in most cases. of the occasions.

In previous testimony on October 27, the former CEO denied defrauding FTX users by leading efforts in Alameda that allowed the company to use customer funds. Former FTX CTO Gary Wang and others testified that Bankman-Fried had allowed Alameda to trade with more funds than it had available.

Bankman-Fried’s testimony will likely end early next week following cross-examination by U.S. Justice Department attorneys. Unless motions or legal issues are addressed, the court will likely instruct the jury to deliberate the seven criminal indictments.

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