Katz addressed FTX’s congressional claims, Easton presented and defended his fund-tracing analysis, and records witnesses introduced metadata, messages, and political-spending charts subject to stated limits.
Full day summary
Eliora Katz described her FTX US government-relations role and participation in meetings with policymakers. The government presented congressional testimony and submissions describing FTX’s approach to risk, withdrawals, and customer assets. Katz said she believed Bankman-Fried’s public statements about how FTX worked while she was employed there, but explained that much of the material predated her employment, that she did not draft it, and that she lacked visibility into the relevant operations. On cross, she confirmed that she worked at FTX from April through November 2022 and did not work on the written congressional testimony.
Accounting professor Peter Easton testified that fiat customer liabilities peaked at $11.3 billion while approximately $2.3 billion was present in the relevant bank accounts. He also corrected his October 31, 2022 cryptocurrency calculation to a $10.3 billion difference and described tracing funds to investments, lender repayments, political contributions, donations, real estate, and Robinhood shares. The court instructed the jury that the government’s illustrative aids were not evidence. Cross-examination addressed Easton’s uncertainty about whether Genesis payments represented principal, interest, or both; differences between charts with distinct account and currency scopes; the inclusion of deposits held in FTX bank accounts; assets held outside FTX; and the absence of a net asset value analysis. Easton maintained that changing his tracing windows would not alter his conclusions.
Google records custodian Cory Gaddis authenticated 18 exhibits using files and metadata from Google’s production, while acknowledging on cross that he lacked substantial metadata expertise. Outside the jury’s presence, the court overruled defense objections to November 2022 messages and a related exhibit, then faulted both sides for failing to coordinate about metadata. Investigative analyst Shamel Medrano presented stipulated Twitter records and private messages but acknowledged that prosecutors selected the messages and that he lacked firsthand knowledge of their surrounding circumstances.
FBI forensic accountant Paige Owens presented three charts using a last-in, first-out method to trace transfers through accounts associated with Samuel Bankman-Fried, Nishad Singh, and Ryan Salame to political contributions. On cross, she agreed that last-in, first-out and first-in, first-out methods can produce different results because funds are fungible. After reviewing account statements, she attributed one VIEW PAC payment to Heller & Robbins rather than North Dimension under the selected method and acknowledged that her analysis did not determine where funds entering the source accounts originated.