Jurors in Sam Bankman-Fried’s fraud trial on Thursday heard a recording of an infamous meeting in which the fallen cryptocurrency king’s former mistress, Caroline Ellison, blamed him for using FTX clients’ funds. to cover the losses of his failed hedge fund, and dodged a question. on whether the measure was a spontaneous “yolo” decision.
“Um… I guess Sam,” Ellison, former CEO of Alameda Research, responded after laughing nervously when a colleague asked him who ordered the trading firm to “borrow” more than $8 billion in funds from his sister cryptocurrency exchange.
“I think, as far as I know, FTX has always allowed Alameda to borrow funds from users,” Ellison, 28, admits in the November 9, 2022, recording of Alameda’s Hong Kong meeting. Kong office.
Prosecutors introduced the recording into evidence after briefly calling former Alameda employee Christian Drappi to the stand at the trial in Manhattan federal court.
Drappi testified that he asked Ellison during the meeting if the fateful decision to use FTX funds was “like a yolo thing,” a reference to the saying, popular among millennials, that “you only live once.”
“What does Yolo mean?” prosecutor Danielle Sassoon asked.
“It’s an acronym for ‘you only live once,'” Drappi responded.
Jurors in Sam Bankman-Fried’s fraud trial heard a recording of an infamous meeting with Caroline Ellison blaming him for using FTX client funds to cover losses at his failed hedge fund.Louis Lanzano/UPI/Shutterstock
But Ellison “avoided the question,” Drappi added from the stand.
Earlier, Ellison, on her third day of testimony, revealed that she had been dating one of the other employees of her troubled company when FBI agents raided her home days after FTX and Alameda, the fund she ran and which Bankman -Fried possessed, they will implode.
“My boyfriend was there and my mom’s cleaner, who came once a week,” Ellison recalled of the November 2022 episode.
Federal agents seized computers belonging to Ellison, her parents and her boyfriend, Ellison testified.
“I think, as far as I know, FTX has always allowed Alameda to borrow funds from users,” Ellison, 28, admits in the November 9, 2022, recording of Alameda’s Hong Kong meeting. Kong.Gregory P. Mango Office
The boyfriend was not identified.
Ellison previously testified that he dated Bankman-Fried, 31, on and off between the summer of 2020 and the spring of 2022.
He also told jurors Wednesday that Bankman-Fried believed he did not need to follow moral codes such as “don’t lie” and “don’t steal” because he was a “utilitarian” who worked for the “common good.” of the society.
Ellison’s cross-examination Thursday by Bankman-Fried’s attorneys was largely drama-free.
Prosecutors introduced the recording into evidence after briefly calling former Alameda employee Christian Drappi to the stand at the trial in Manhattan federal court. Gregory P. Mango
Bankman-Fried’s defense attorney, Mark Cohen, spent most of the day questioning Ellison about his financial strategy and accounting practices while he ran Alameda.
At some points, Cohen implied that Ellison should have reduced Alameda’s risk by “hedging” the company’s financial bets.
Ellison admitted that the company made “terrible mistakes,” but maintained that her ex-boyfriend Bankman-Fried was the real decision-maker on major Alameda decisions, such as paying lenders with funds from FTX users.
Ellison also revealed Thursday that Bankman-Fried convinced her not to leave Alameda months before FTX collapsed.
Drappi testified that he asked Ellison during the meeting if the fateful decision to use FTX funds was “like a yolo thing,” a reference to the saying, popular among millennials, that “you only live once.” Gregory P. Mango
“He told me he couldn’t, that it was too important,” Ellison said on the stand.
“I trusted his opinion and I didn’t want FTX and Alameda to collapse,” he added.
The trial will resume Friday morning with testimony from Zac Prince, CEO of cryptocurrency lender Block Fi, who was allegedly aware of FTX’s financial problems months before the cryptocurrency exchange closed.
Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty to two counts of fraud and five counts of conspiracy.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn