SBF’s criminal trial moves into closing arguments.

The ongoing criminal trial of FTX founder Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried will move into closing arguments on November 1.

On the 15th day of the SBF trial, defense attorney Mark Cohen's motion for acquittal was denied by presiding judge Lewis Kaplan. Instead, the case will move to closing arguments from both sides at 9:30 am (1:30 pm UTC) on November 1, when all evidentiary findings have been completed. Attorneys for both sides declined to call additional witnesses.

SBF pleaded not guilty to seven fraud-related charges in the criminal indictment, but is expected to face five more charges in a second trial scheduled to begin in March 2024, which includes a $150 million bribe to a Chinese government official.

During the investigation, prosecutor Danielle Sassoon presented documents, tweets and corporate messages proving that the shop fund at Alameda Research collected an estimated $8 billion in FTX client deposits to fund a series of risky trades. The SBF, on its part, has denied that such practices are fraudulent. In its defense, SBF said taking customer deposits was merely a necessary “risk management” process for Alameda's portfolio and that the process was consistent with company policies.

Key FTX employees — Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison, FTX Chief Technology Officer Gary Wang and former FTX head of engineering Nishad Singh — all pleaded guilty last November to charges related to the exchange's failure and are currently cooperating in their testimony with the U.S. government. they are. S.B.F. If convicted, Bankman-Fried faces a maximum sentence of 115 years in prison.

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