Samuel Bankman-Fried

Samuel Bankman-Fried stood trial over the collapse of FTX and Alameda Research. The prosecution alleged that he gave Alameda undisclosed access to FTX customer assets, concealed the resulting multibillion-dollar shortfall, and misled customers, investors, and lenders. His defense maintained that the businesses were legitimate, Alameda's borrowing was permitted, and weak controls, market shocks, and a liquidity crisis did not prove fraudulent intent.

Former colleagues supplied much of the prosecution's account. Gary Wang testified that undisclosed code privileges let Alameda withdraw customer assets and use an exceptional credit line. Caroline Ellison testified that Alameda repaid recalled loans with customer money and hid its borrowing in lender balance sheets. Nishad Singh described Alameda's special account treatment, the customer-fund shortfall, and public assurances during the November crisis. Each acknowledged his or her own criminal conduct; the defense challenged the cooperating witnesses and argued that business failures were being treated as fraud.

Bankman-Fried first testified at a Day 14 admissibility hearing and then before the jury on Days 15 through 17. He described Alameda as a payment agent for customer deposits, said FTX's terms allowed margin borrowing, and maintained that Alameda had positive net asset value despite a multibillion-dollar liability. He acknowledged an approximately $8 billion fiat-related liability and a later discussion of a liability above $10 billion, while describing the November withdrawals as a liquidity crisis. On cross-examination, prosecutors compared those claims with public assurances, private messages, account settings, and financial records. He acknowledged Alameda's unusually large credit line and altered liquidation treatment, but disputed the government's interpretation and denied fraudulent intent. On redirect, he acknowledged major shortcomings in risk management and his oversight of the payment-agent relationship.

The jury found him guilty on all seven counts on Day 19: two wire-fraud counts, two wire-fraud conspiracies, and conspiracies to commit securities fraud, commodities fraud, and money laundering. Each juror confirmed the verdict when polled.