FORMER FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty in a Manhattan federal court yesterday to charges of cheating investors and looting customer deposits on his cryptocurrency platform.
The 30-year-old appeared before Judge Lewis A Kaplan yesterday, who set a tentative October 2 trial date, although he noted that may alter by a day or two.
Kaplan also decided that motions by the defence and responses to them by prosecutors would be due in April with an argument over the motions taking place on May 18.
Mark Cohen, Bankman-Fried’s attorney, announced his client’s plea, saying: “He pleads not guilty to all counts.”
The Associated Press also reported that prior to his appearance his lawyers sent a letter to the judge, saying Bankman-Fried’s parents in recent weeks have become the target of “intense media scrutiny, harassment, and threats, including communications expressing a desire that they suffer physical harm”.
As a result, the lawyers reportedly requested that the names be redacted on court documents for the two individuals who were lined up to sign Bankman-Fried’s $250m personal recognizance bond. Bankman-Fried was released with electronic monitoring about two weeks ago on the condition that he await trial at his parents’ house in Palo Alto, California.
The businessman is faced with eight fraud charges before the Southern District of New York. These include two counts of wire fraud and two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
He also faces charges of conspiracy to commit commodity fraud, conspiracy to commit security fraud, money laundering conspiracy, and conspiracy to defraud the United States.
FTX co-founder Gary Wang and Alameda Research co-CEO Carolyn Ellison, pleaded guilty to fraud charges and are cooperating with prosecutors.
Their pleas were kept secret until Bankman-Fried was in the air after his extradition from The Bahamas due to fears he might flee.
FTX filed for bankruptcy in the United States in November, starting the unraveling of the crypto giant which saw the Bahamas headquarters placed into liquidity.
Last month, Bankman-Fried was arrested after he was indicted in the US and then he was extradited to New York. He has since been released on a $250m bond and placed under house arrest at his parents’ home in California.
Meanwhile, US publication Fortune has reported that a taskforce is to be formed in relation to the matter.
It said that Manhattan US Attorney Damian Williams, who is leading the Bankman-Fried case, yesterday announced the formation of a task force of senior prosecutors to handle the investigation and prosecuting matters related to the collapse, made up of members of units probing securities and commodities fraud, public corruption, money laundering and transnational criminal enterprises.
In a statement, Mr Williams said: “The Southern District of New York is working around the clock to respond to the implosion of FTX. It is an all-hands-on-deck moment. We are launching the SDNY FTX Task Force to ensure that this urgent work continues, powered by all of SDNY’s resources and expertise, until justice is done.”
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