FTX executives who plead guilty among potential witnesses in Sam Bankman-Fried criminal case
Several former executives of cryptocurrency exchange FTX or sister companies are on the list to testify in the United States Department of Justice's criminal case against Sam Bankman-Fried, or SBF.
During jury selection for the SBF trial on October 3, Assistant US Attorney Danielle Sassoon, former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison, FTX co-founder Gary Wang, former FTX director of engineering Nishad Singh and former FTX chief operating officer Constance Wang said they were among the names. Witnesses who may testify against Bankman-Fried. Ellison, Gary Wang and Singh have all pleaded guilty to charges related to their roles in the FTX collapse, while Ryan Salame – the former CEO of FTX Digital Markets and the fifth person directly connected to the criminal case – will not testify. .
Other names floated by Sassoon include SkyBridge Capital founder Anthony Scaramucci, who has previously criticized SBF's alleged role in the 2022 crypto market crash. Judge Lewis Kaplan began the proceedings in the SBF criminal trial by asking questions from the waiting jurors about the case.
According to multiple reports from the courtroom, Banman-Fried appeared for the first time without his signature messy hair, which appears to have been cut for the first week of the trial. Kaplan confirmed that prosecutors did not offer the former FTX CEO a plea deal in the case and questioned prospective jurors about scheduling, difficulties and conflicts of interest. He also issued a warning about avoiding media consumption related to the experiment.
“This case has generated publicity,” Kaplan said in reports. “You have to stay away from it — podcasts, anything. Did any of you watch 60 Minutes on Sunday? [likely referring to Michael Lewis’ interview on Bankman-Fried]He said.
Standing outside SDNY for SBF test pic.twitter.com/WDGd8kVqdQ
— Tiffany Fong (@TiffanyFong_) October 3, 2023
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At the time of publication, Kaplan had dismissed four of the court's 12 judges and said the election would resume on the morning of October 4. The trial is expected to last until November, although the judge said[his] Cases rarely take as long as lawyers think. “
Opening arguments in the trial are expected to begin on Oct. 4, when defense and prosecutors will each take about 25-40 minutes to address the jury. Bankman-Fried faced 7 criminal charges in the first trial, and another 5 charges will return in a second trial starting in March 2024.
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