US prosecutors have charged Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of the now bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, with sharing personal documents belonging to Caroline Ellison, his former ally and romantic partner, to the media. The Department of Justice (DoJ) made the allegations yesterday (Thursday) in a filing directed at Louis Kaplan, the US District Judge presiding over the case between the US and the former CEO of FTX.
Ellison is the former CEO of FTX’s sister trading company, Alameda Research. In December 2022, a month after the collapse of FTX, Ellison along with Zixiao (Gary) Wang, former CTO of FTX, pleaded guilty to criminal charges initiated by the Department of Justice. Ellison and Wang also begin cooperating with public authorities in their investigation of FTX’s demise.
Thursday , The New York Times She published an article writing that she had reviewed some Google Docs written by Ellison. The documents reportedly contain notes about the personal and professional relationship between the former head of Alameda Research and Bankman-Fried.
The outlet called the details in the documents “personal and raw,” adding that the documents illustrate the complexity of the relationship between Bankman-Fried and Ellison. However, the publication did not disclose how it obtained the document.
in Court filing Filed yesterday, the DOJ attributed the “non-judicial statements” to Bankman-Fried, noting that the crypto entrepreneur’s attorney confirmed that the cryptocurrency exchange’s founder personally met with one of the reporters accredited to write the article. The lawyers also reportedly admitted that Bankman-Fried had shown the aforementioned journalist documents that were not part of the prosecutors’ discovery materials. Giving more details, the enforcement agency said it believed the documents “likely came from (Bankman-Fried’s) personal Google Drive account”.
Furthermore, Damien Williams, the attorney for the Southern District of New York, alleged that Bankman-Fried shared details in order to ruin Ellison’s agreement to testify at Bankman-Fried’s upcoming trial in October, that it had entered into an arrangement with the founder to defraud clients, investors as well as Alameda Research’s lenders.
By selectively sharing some private documents with The New York Timesthe defendant attempts to discredit a witness, cast Ellison in a bad light, present his defense through the press and outside the constraints of the courtroom and the rules of evidence: that Ellison was a jilted lover who committed these crimes single-handedly,” Williams argued.
In addition, the prosecutor claimed that with this move Bankman-Fried attempted to interfere with a fair trial by an impartial jury. He also sought to publicly discredit a government witness.
As a result, the Department of Justice asked the court to issue an order limiting extrajudicial statements by parties and witnesses who could potentially interfere with a fair trial by an impartial jury. The enforcement agency added that the alleged leak by Bankman-Fried “could have a chilling effect on witnesses”.
Bankman-Fried failed to successfully dismiss the charges
The new allegation is the latest development in the federal trial of the FTX founder following his arrest in the Bahamas last year and his subsequent extradition to the United States. US federal prosecutors initially brought eight of the charges against the disgraced crypto entrepreneur, but later expanded them to 13, finance poles mentioned.
Some of the charges include conspiracy to commit commodity and securities fraud, violation of US money laundering and federal campaign finance laws, and conspiracy to violate anti-bribery provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
In response, Bankman Fried’s attorneys took up the case in the Bahamas Supreme Court, asking that the additional charges be dropped. This is even as Bankman-Fried previously pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Moreover, the former crypto billionaire’s legal advisor recently filed pretrial motions in the US, asking the court to dismiss 10 of the 13 charges brought by federal prosecutors. However, Judge Kaplan recently struck down all of the motions.
while, finance poles It reported on Friday that FTX has filed a lawsuit against Bankman-Fried, Ellision, Wang and Nishad Singh, the company’s former engineering director, in an effort to recover a total of $1 billion. The sum is part of a larger sum of money that executives allegedly embezzled before the company folded.
US prosecutors have charged Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of the now bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, with sharing personal documents belonging to Caroline Ellison, his former ally and romantic partner, to the media. The Department of Justice (DoJ) made the allegations yesterday (Thursday) in a filing directed at Louis Kaplan, the US District Judge presiding over the case between the US and the former CEO of FTX.
Ellison is the former CEO of FTX’s sister trading company, Alameda Research. In December 2022, a month after the collapse of FTX, Ellison along with Zixiao (Gary) Wang, former CTO of FTX, pleaded guilty to criminal charges initiated by the Department of Justice. Ellison and Wang also begin cooperating with public authorities in their investigation of FTX’s demise.
Thursday , The New York Times She published an article writing that she had reviewed some Google Docs written by Ellison. The documents reportedly contain notes about the personal and professional relationship between the former head of Alameda Research and Bankman-Fried.
The outlet called the details in the documents “personal and raw,” adding that the documents illustrate the complexity of the relationship between Bankman-Fried and Ellison. However, the publication did not disclose how it obtained the document.
in Court filing Filed yesterday, the DOJ attributed the “non-judicial statements” to Bankman-Fried, noting that the crypto entrepreneur’s attorney confirmed that the cryptocurrency exchange’s founder personally met with one of the reporters accredited to write the article. The lawyers also reportedly admitted that Bankman-Fried had shown the aforementioned journalist documents that were not part of the prosecutors’ discovery materials. Giving more details, the enforcement agency said it believed the documents “likely came from (Bankman-Fried’s) personal Google Drive account”.
Furthermore, Damien Williams, the attorney for the Southern District of New York, alleged that Bankman-Fried shared details in order to ruin Ellison’s agreement to testify at Bankman-Fried’s upcoming trial in October, that it had entered into an arrangement with the founder to defraud clients, investors as well as Alameda Research’s lenders.
By selectively sharing some private documents with The New York Timesthe defendant attempts to discredit a witness, cast Ellison in a bad light, present his defense through the press and outside the constraints of the courtroom and the rules of evidence: that Ellison was a jilted lover who committed these crimes single-handedly,” Williams argued.
In addition, the prosecutor claimed that with this move Bankman-Fried attempted to interfere with a fair trial by an impartial jury. He also sought to publicly discredit a government witness.
As a result, the Department of Justice asked the court to issue an order limiting extrajudicial statements by parties and witnesses who could potentially interfere with a fair trial by an impartial jury. The enforcement agency added that the alleged leak by Bankman-Fried “could have a chilling effect on witnesses”.
Bankman-Fried failed to successfully dismiss the charges
The new allegation is the latest development in the federal trial of the FTX founder following his arrest in the Bahamas last year and his subsequent extradition to the United States. US federal prosecutors initially brought eight of the charges against the disgraced crypto entrepreneur, but later expanded them to 13, finance poles mentioned.
Some of the charges include conspiracy to commit commodity and securities fraud, violation of US money laundering and federal campaign finance laws, and conspiracy to violate anti-bribery provisions of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.
In response, Bankman Fried’s attorneys took up the case in the Bahamas Supreme Court, asking that the additional charges be dropped. This is even as Bankman-Fried previously pleaded not guilty to all charges.
Furthermore, the former crypto billionaire’s legal advisor recently filed pretrial motions in the US, asking the court to dismiss 10 of the 13 charges brought by federal prosecutors. However, Judge Kaplan recently struck down all of the motions.
while, finance poles It reported on Friday that FTX has filed a lawsuit against Bankman-Fried, Ellision, Wang and Nishad Singh, the company’s former engineering director, in an effort to recover a total of $1 billion. The sum is part of a larger sum of money that executives allegedly embezzled before the company folded.