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Sam Bankman-Fried dedicated “fraud on an enormous scale” by stealing “billions of {dollars} from tens of millions of consumers” of his FTX cryptocurrency trade, prosecutors alleged as opening arguments started within the former crypto tycoon’s hotly anticipated trial.
“One yr in the past it appeared preferred ‘SBF’ was on the highest of the world,” assistant US legal professional Thane Rehn instructed jurors on Wednesday in Manhattan federal courtroom. “He had wealth, he had energy, he had affect, however all of it . . . was constructed on a lie.”
Bankman-Fried used the proceeds to purchase lavish homes and courtroom celebrities corresponding to Tom Brady, in addition to politicians together with former Democratic president Invoice Clinton, Rhen mentioned.
Legal professionals for Bankman-Fried are anticipated to reply with their opening arguments in a while Wednesday.
The prosecutors’ statements kicked off what is anticipated to be a six-week trial to determine the destiny of the 31-year-old former billionaire, who was till final yr one of many main figures within the freewheeling world of cryptocurrency buying and selling.
He’s accused of getting defrauded buyers, lenders and clients as he absconded with billions of {dollars} in deposits entrusted to his FTX cryptocurrency trade.
Bankman-Fried, who sat in courtroom sporting a gray go well with, has formally denied the costs and maintained his innocence in quite a few media interviews given earlier than he was jailed in August for allegedly making an attempt to intimidate witnesses. Prosecutors confirmed on Tuesday that they’d not at any time provided Bankman-Fried a plea deal.
His defence workforce, led by lawyer Mark Cohen, is anticipated to deflect blame on to Bankman-Fried’s legal professionals and advisers, and declare he acted in good religion inside the complicated and fast-changing world of crypto regulation.
The prosecutors’ case rests closely on the testimony of three central witnesses, former lieutenants to Bankman-Fried who agreed to co-operate with the federal government and are anticipated to take the stand within the coming days.
A number of former FTX clients and buyers are additionally anticipated to testify, probably together with a Ukrainian depositor within the trade who had believed the funds have been in a protected haven throughout the Russia’s full-scale invasion of the nation.
The roster of potential witnesses or vital figures within the trial, learn out by the federal government in courtroom, contains all of FTX’s high in-house legal professionals, in addition to different central workers concerned in lobbying for the trade in Washington and know-how improvement.
The enterprise capital buyers who invested $1.8bn into FTX earlier than its collapse may even characteristic within the trial, together with Sequoia Capital and associate Alfred Lin. SkyBridge Capital founder Anthony Scaramucci — who was briefly the spokesperson for the administration of Donald Trump earlier than turning into a crypto evangelist — was additionally talked about.
Arguments received beneath method after a jury of 12 members and six alternates was chosen from a bunch of just about 50. The decide quizzed would-be jurors on their experiences with cryptocurrencies and prior information of the case. The chosen jury includes three males and 9 girls, together with a social employee, a highschool librarian and a retired corrections officer.
Choose Lewis Kaplan requested the jurors if they’d watched a Sunday interview with creator Michael Lewis, who had shadowed Bankman-Fried for months earlier than and through his fall from grace for his newest guide, which was printed on Tuesday. Lewis, who mentioned FTX had “an important actual enterprise” instructed CBS Information the guide was meant to be a “form of letter to the jury”.
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