© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Sam Bankman-Fried, the founding father of bankrupt cryptocurrency trade FTX, arrives at courtroom in New York, U.S., August 11, 2023. REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz/File Picture
By Luc Cohen and Jody Godoy
NEW YORK (Reuters) – FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried is about to retake the witness stand on Monday in his trial on fraud costs tied to the collapse of the cryptocurrency trade, with prosecutors poised to problem his assertion that he didn’t steal billions of {dollars} in buyer funds.
Bankman-Fried first is because of reply round two extra hours value of friendlier questions from his protection lawyer, Mark Cohen, who is predicted to ask the 31-year-old former billionaire about his model of the dramatic occasions of November 2022, when FTX collapsed amid a wave of buyer withdrawals.
Three of Bankman-Fried’s former shut confidantes, every of whom pleaded responsible and testified for the prosecution, earlier instructed the jury that he posted or directed others to publish deceptive messages on social media to provide clients false assurance about FTX’s well being in a bid to cease a run on deposits.
Throughout six hours of testimony on Friday about occasions earlier in 2022 and in prior years, Bankman-Fried sought to distance himself from particular actions he stated the three cooperating witnesses took with out his firsthand involvement. He additionally admitted to creating “errors” that damage FTX’s clients and workers, however stated he by no means got down to take clients’ cash.
Bankman-Fried has pleaded not responsible to 2 counts of fraud and 5 counts of conspiracy. Prosecutors have stated he looted billions of {dollars} in FTX buyer funds to prop up his hedge fund, Alameda Analysis, make speculative enterprise investments, and contribute to U.S. political campaigns. If convicted, he might face a long time in jail.
His determination to testify in his personal protection is dangerous, because it opens him as much as probing cross-examination by prosecutors. However authorized consultants instructed Reuters he could have considered taking the stand as his finest shot at countering testimony from the three cooperating witnesses that he directed them to commit crimes.
U.S. District Decide Lewis Kaplan has stated jury deliberations might start by Thursday or Friday.
