Day Two Highlights in Sam Bankman-Fried’s Trial

The highly-anticipated trial of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried is in full swing. As the fraud allegations unfold, Senior District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan directs the proceedings while Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicolas Roos spearheads the prosecution. Mark Cohen is representing Bankman-Fried.

• By 11:20 a.m. ET, Judge Kaplan finalized the jury—comprising 12 jurors with an additional 6 alternates.
• Prosecution and defense were allotted 25 and 40 minutes respectively for their opening statements. Roos claimed that Bankman-Fried operated under deceit while creating his FTX crypto enterprise. According to Roos, the truth was only shared with a tight circle, including his girlfriend. The prosecution further accused the defendant of opening bank accounts using fabricated documents, misusing FTX customer deposits via Alameda, and misdirecting FTX funds towards political donations and celebrity endorsements. The opening for the prosecution concluded on a strong note: “There is only one verdict: Sam Bankman-Fried is guilty.”

On the other side, defense attorney Cohen insisted that Bankman-Fried remained transparent in his dealings. He pointed out that the rapid expansion of FTX hindered proper recruitment of risk management personnel. Interestingly, Cohen alleged that Bankman-Fried’s girlfriend, Caroline Ellison, acted contrary to Sam’s recommendations regarding Alameda’s funds. He even brought up online confrontations from Binance and its CEO, Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, suggesting they triggered a massive financial drain on FTX. Drawing attention to the market situation, Cohen noted a sharp 70% drop in Bitcoin, affecting many firms, including Alameda. He depicted Bankman-Fried as a math enthusiast who stayed away from the party scene, underlining the Bahama properties were investments to attract talent to FTX. Cohen revealed that Ellison, Wang, and Nishad would be government witnesses, having already accepted their guilt. His request to the court? To declare Bankman-Fried innocent.

Witnesses Speak

The defense’s plea to exclude certain photos of luxury yachts in the Bahamas was rejected by Judge Kaplan, emphasizing the evident extravagant purchases made by Bankman-Fried. The initial witness, Marc-Antoine Julliard, a London-based cocoa broker, confirmed his crypto trading via FTX, understanding that FTX’s revenue came from trade commissions. He was under the impression that FTX was not utilizing customer deposits for lending purposes.