Lucas Nolan( Breiatbart) and A.P
Breaking News:
(AP)— Cryptocurrency entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried walked out of a Manhattan courthouse Thursday with his parents after they agreed to sign a $250 million bond and keep him at their California home while he awaits trial on charges that he swindled investors and looted customer deposits on his FTX trading platform.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicolas Roos said in U.S. District Court that Bankman-Fried, 30, “perpetrated a fraud of epic proportions.” Roos proposed strict bail terms, including a $250 million bond — which he said is believed to be the largest federal pretrial bond ever — and house arrest at his parents’ home in Palo Alto, California.
An important reason for allowing bail was that Bankman-Fried agreed to waive extradition, Roos said.
Reunited with his parents and lawyers inside the courthouse, an apparently silent Bankman-Fried shook the hands of a supporter before heading out the door, where photographers and video crews rushed him until he left in a car.
Gary Wang, co-founder of FTX, and Caroline Ellison, former co-CEO of Sam Bankman-Fried’s Alameda Research, have both pleaded guilty to federal offenses in the Southern District of New York, according to a statement released by U.S. Attorney Damian Williams this week.
CNBC reports that FTX co-founder Gary Wang and former Alameda Research co-CEO Caroline Ellison have both pleaded guilty to federal charges and are cooperating with prosecutors, according to U.S. Attorney Damian Williams. Both the bankrupt FTX and its associated hedge fund Alameda Research are the brainchild of Democrat super donor Sam Bankman-Fried.
Gary Wang has admitted to participating in a conspiracy to commit wire fraud, committing wire fraud, conspiring to commit commodities fraud, and conspiring to commit securities fraud. Caroline Ellison has pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud, two counts of conspiring to commit wire fraud, conspiring to commit commodities fraud, securities fraud, and money laundering.
Wang and Ellison both entered guilty pleas on federal charges on Monday, according to the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams. These charges were announced on Monday, the same day that former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was set to travel from the Bahamas to New York to face eight federal criminal charges from the same prosecutors but was delayed after a court hearing in the Bahamas was disrupted.
In a prerecorded message, Williams stated: “As I said last week, this investigation is very much ongoing. I also said that last’s week announcement would not be our last. And let me be clear, once again, neither is today’s.”
Bankman-Fried was taken into custody in the Bahamas last week after being indicted by the Southern District of New York. He has spent the last few days involved in court proceedings related to his potential extradition to the United States. At the same time, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and the Securities and Exchange Commission have filed civil complaints against Bankman-Fried, Ellison, and Wang.
The SEC claimed that the crypto executives were involved “in a multiyear scheme to defraud equity investors in FTX, the crypto trading platform co-founded by Samuel Bankman-Fried and Wang.”
The CFTC’s complaint charges “Ellison with fraud and material misrepresentations in connection with the sale of digital asset commodities in interstate commerce, and charges Wang with fraud in connection with the sale of digital asset commodities in interstate commerce.”
Gary Wang and Caroline Ellison have both admitted to the allegations made against them, according to a statement from the CFTC. The SEC complaint specifically mentions Ellison’s involvement in manipulating FTT, a self-issued token of FTX, to increase Alameda Research’s available collateral for lending.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan
