A restless Sam Bankman-Fried tried to dodge questions during a surprise hearing in his federal fraud trial in Manhattan on Thursday, while claiming that his trading company had been “allowed” to “borrow” the $8 billion in funds from FTX users who is accused of theft.
Bankman-Fried, 31, became agitated as prosecutor Danielle Sassoon questioned him on the stand after the judge sent jurors home for the day to review what evidence would be included in Friday’s long-awaited testimony. the morning of the accused cryptocriminal.
“Listen to the question and answer the question,” Judge Lewis Kaplan told the fallen cryptocurrency king at one point during the bizarre three-hour hearing, chiding Bankman-Fried for giving indirect answers.
“The witness has what I’ll just call an ‘interesting’ way of answering questions,” Kaplan joked later, as Bankman-Fried sat in a gray suit and purple tie, a bottle of Polish water next to him. on the terrace. stop.
The former cryptocurrency golden boy appeared distraught throughout the hearing, looking down, wincing in pain, and frequently telling Sassoon that he would have “phrased” the questions differently, before giving incoherent and long-winded answers.
During a surprise hearing in his federal fraud trial in Manhattan on Thursday, Sam Bankman-Fried, 31, tried to dodge questions. Matthew McDermott
He answered “I don’t remember” or said he didn’t remember certain conversations with either his former colleagues or his lawyers at least a dozen times.
Thursday’s hearing was intended in part to investigate the scope of Bankman-Fried’s planned “counsel counsel” defense, which argues that he should not be held responsible for his alleged crimes because he was simply following the advice of his attorneys.
But it also served as a kind of rehearsal for Bankman-Fried’s planned testimony before the jury, and suggested she might have difficulty explaining herself under withering questioning.
When asked directly whether trading firm Alameda Research’s FTX account was given the unique privilege of accumulating a huge negative balance (which former company executives testified was used in the scheme to steal client funds), Bankman-Fried did not answer the question.
He claimed that his trading company had been “allowed” to “borrow” the $8 billion in FTX user funds he is accused of stealing.William Farrington
“Um, I’m sorry, I…” he said, before trailing off.
After a moment, Bankman-Fried added, “I’ll take my best guess to answer your question,” but then didn’t provide a clear explanation.
He responded “I don’t remember” when asked if he spoke to company executives through an encrypted app about Alameda being $13 billion in debt before FTX collapsed in November 2022.
“I don’t specifically remember those conversations,” he said.
When asked if he spoke to lawyers about depositing FTX users’ money into an account controlled by Alameda, Bankman-Fried responded, “I don’t remember any conversations that were contemporaneous and worded that way,” and then reached for the water bottle. next. towards him and took a drink.
“I wish I had had conversations,” he continued, and then seemed to say he wished he had been “more informed,” though it was a challenge to understand every word of his stilted comments.
“I’m not sure if other people were involved in the conversations,” Bankman-Fried added.
He previously responded “Yes, in many circumstances” when asked by his defense attorney, Mark Cohen, whether Alameda was allowed to “borrow” money from FTX deposits.
“Did you think you were running FTX according to their terms of service?” Cohen asked later.
“Yes,” Bankman-Fried responded.
Bankman-Fried became agitated as prosecutor Danielle Sassoon questioned him on the stand after the judge sent jurors home for the day to go over what evidence would be included in the accused cryptocriminal’s Friday morning testimony.
But the California cryptocurrency mogul failed and provided a word salad response when Sassoon later asked him a similar question.
“I think it gives a lot of discretion to how Alameda acts in general… I wouldn’t put it that way, but I think the answer to the question you’re trying to ask is yes.”
“I’m not a lawyer… I’m just giving my memory the best I can,” Bankman-Fried later said by way of explaining his incomplete answers to Sassoon’s questions.
Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to conspiracy and wire fraud charges for allegedly using more than $8 billion in deposits stolen from FTX users to finance lavish real estate purchases, political donations and pay off lenders.
Bankman-Fried appeared distraught throughout the hearing, looking down, wincing and frequently telling Sassoon that he would have “phrased” the questions differently and then delivering rambling, long-winded answers.
His long-awaited testimony comes after the jury heard earlier this month from three of his former FTX partners, including his ex-girlfriend Caroline Ellison, who betrayed him after pleading guilty.
Ellison testified that Bankman-Fried “directed” her to steal billions in FTX customer funds to pay off Alameda’s massive debt, and that the accused fraudster had the final say on big decisions at both companies.
Bankman-Fried also didn’t care about following moral codes like “don’t lie” and “don’t steal” because he felt he was working for the “overall good” of society, Ellison told the jury.
Another of Bankman-Fried’s former top executives, Nishad Singh, criticized him for “excessively” spending hundreds of millions on FTX sponsorship deals with celebrities and sports leagues, while jurors were shown a photo of a Bankman-Fried smiling posing with Katy Perry. Orlando Bloom and Kate Hudson at the 2022 Super Bowl.
But Bankman-Fried’s lawyers defended FTX’s spending during cross-examination by Singh as crucial to growing the business.
Bankman-Fried faces what would effectively be a life sentence if convicted.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn