Christian Drappi

Christian Drappi testified for the government on Day 7 about his work as an Alameda software engineer and his observations of the firm's leadership. He said that after Samuel Bankman-Fried left the Alameda CEO title, Bankman-Fried remained in contact with employees, retained access to internal trading data, and weighed in on large trades.

Drappi recounted Caroline Ellison's November 8 explanation that Alameda's borrowing of FTX customer deposits had produced a shortfall. He authenticated six audio excerpts and corresponding transcripts from a November 9 all-hands meeting, where he said Ellison identified Bankman-Fried, Gary Wang, Nishad Singh, and herself as knowing about the use of customer deposits. Drappi testified that he had not previously known Alameda borrowed customer deposits to repay loans, was shocked by the disclosure, and resigned within 24 hours.

Cross-examination tested whether Bankman-Fried was the only person with access to Alameda's pointer data system. After objections that some questions exceeded the scope, mischaracterized Drappi's testimony, or failed to identify the relevant entity, the court required greater precision and Drappi identified other people with access. During direct examination, the court also sustained foundation objections, struck his answer about the co-CEOs' reporting line, and permitted questions focused on his personal observations. The court instructed jurors that the admitted audio controlled over any differences in the transcripts and that other recorded voices could be considered for context, not for the truth of their statements.