Sam Bankman-Fried jury starts deliberating whether he's guilty of $8billion FTX crypto fraud in case that could see him spend 110 years in jail

The destiny of FTX laminitis Sam Bankman-Fried is successful nan hands of 12 jurors who person been sent retired to determine whether he is blameworthy of $8billion worthy of crypto fraud.

He is accused of committing 1 of nan biggest financial frauds successful American history by utilizing customer deposits astatine his crypto patient FTX to prop up risky investments successful fledgling hedge money Alameda, which was tally by his ex-girlfriend Caroline Ellison.

The assemblage successful nan Manhattan national tribunal was sent retired for deliberations by Judge Lewis A. Kaplan astir 3.15pm. 

Bankman-Fried has pleaded not blameworthy to 2 counts of fraud and 5 counts of conspiracy. He acknowledged making mistakes which led to FTX's bankruptcy successful November 2022 - harming customers and labor - but denied stealing customers' money.

The 31-year-old one-time billionaire, whose wealthiness was erstwhile estimated to beryllium astir $25 cardinal by Forbes, could beryllium sentenced to up to 110 years successful jailhouse if he is recovered blameworthy by nan jury. 

The high-profile proceedings began connected October 4 and has featured plentifulness of damaging grounds from a number of Bankman-Fried's soul circle which turned against him including Ellison, Gary Wang, FTX co-founder, and Nishad Singh, nan company’s apical engineer.

Prosecutor Nicolas Roos utilized his closing arguments connected Wednesday to show nan assemblage that Bankman-Fried 'thought he was smarter and better' and could get distant pinch taking people's money.

The adjunct US lawyer said his grounds connected Friday was a dishonesty which 'had been rehearsed a mates of times'. He claimed he was a different personification nether cross-examination and could not retrieve specifications being asked of him complete 140 times.

Prosecutor Roos laid retired nan questions nan assemblage needed to reply up of nan conclusion of nan trial.

'As FTX ceased to exist, a bid of questions emerged. Where did nan money go? What happened? And who is responsible?,' he said.

'You cognize who was responsible. Sam Bankman-Fried. He spent his customers’ money and he lied to them astir it.

'This was a pyramid of deceit built by nan suspect connected a instauration of lies and mendacious promises, each to get money. Eventually it collapsed, leaving thousands of victims successful its wake.'

He added: 'The reply is clear - he took nan money, he knew it was wrong. He did it because he thought he was smarter and amended and could locomotion his measurement and talk his measurement retired of it. But today, pinch you, that ends.'

The adjunct US lawyer pointed to Bankman-Fried's grounds past Friday and claimed he lied.

'He didn’t person to attest successful this trial. He told a story, and he lied to you,' he said.

Roos said he was capable to perfectly callback what nan wrong of nan Alameda Research offices looked for illustration and nan thought process down renaming NBA squad Miami Heat's arena to incorporated nan FTX name.

'He was a wholly different personification nether transverse examination,' he told nan jurors.

'Suddenly he couldn’t retrieve a azygous item astir his companies. It was uncomfortable to hear. It happened complete 140 times.

'He had to beryllium asked and re-asked. He lied astir large things and he lied astir small things.

'He told you he didn’t cognize what was going connected and he didn’t recognize that what was happening was wrong.'

He added: 'To judge nan defendant, you would person to disregard nan testimonies of his partners successful crime, including Caroline Ellison. You would person to disregard nan documents.

'You would person to judge nan defendant, who graduated from MIT and owned 2 cardinal dollar companies, was really clueless.’

Roos accused Bankman-Fried of 'celebrity chasing', showing jurors nan celebrated image of him astatine nan 2022 Super Bowl pinch vocalist Katy Perry.

He besides showed nan tribunal a spreadsheet of Alameda finances illustrating a $13.7billion shortage successful September 2022.

Roos pointed to nan metadata which showed Bankman-Freed had accessed nan spreadsheet arsenic 'absolute proof' he knew astir nan immense financial spread - but claimed he continued to walk hundreds of millions of dollars.

'He had nan arrogance to deliberation he could get distant pinch it,' Roos said.

He added that while Ellison said she 'lived successful a changeless authorities of terror' complete nan hole, nan CEO continued to 'dig deeper alternatively than travel clean'.

Bankman-Fried listened to nan closing connection beside his lawyer, typing connected a laptop throughout.

His defense lawyer Mark Cohen said: 'The authorities has sought to move Sam into immoderate benignant of monster. I dream you person seen it’s not true, and it’s not a ground to find verdicts connected circumstantial charges.

'According to nan government, everything Sam ever touched and said was fraudulent. Here we heard grounds astir Sam’s hair, his apparel and his activity life.

'The charismatic gave america a movie opening, pinch nan witnesses and prosecutors pointing astatine Sam, saying "that man". Why are they doing this? They are trying to make him into personification we don’t for illustration truthful we tin convict him.'

'Sam’s quality and activity life person thing to do pinch whether he’s blameworthy of circumstantial charges.'

Cohen claimed nan authorities did this to coming Bankman-Fried arsenic ‘a villain’.

'Remember that bully religion is simply a complete defense, and nan load of impervious to show he did not enactment successful bully religion lies pinch nan government,' he added.

'You must find beyond reasonable uncertainty that Sam did not enactment successful bully religion and acted knowingly and willingly. This load of impervious is heavy. And it must beryllium a unanimous verdict.

'Sam believed successful bully religion that he was dealing pinch a liquidity issue. He didn't judge it was 1 of insolvency but liquidity.’

Cohen said that astatine its peak, FTX International was worthy $32billion, and Bankman- Fried did not dishonesty to customers but 'believed FTX and Alameda were truthful valuable he could liquidate them to resoluteness immoderate issues connected nan speech if necessary.’

He added that his $30million Bahamas spot was a 'legitimate business expense' arsenic accommodation and inducement for his labor to 'uproot their lives and families and move abroad'.

The assemblage heard from Ellison who said she committed fraud and that Bankman-Fried ‘directed’ her to do it.

She said that she felt ‘indescribably bad’ astir FTX collapsing and, breaking down successful tears successful beforehand of nan jury, said nan ungraded was ‘something I’d been dreading for truthful long’ she felt relieved erstwhile it yet came out.

With nary ambiguity successful her voice, she told nan jury: ‘Alameda took respective cardinal dollars of money from FTX customers and utilized it for investments and to repay debts we had’.

Previous reports person stated that Ellison was paid acold little than different apical FTX executives, and whitethorn not person moreover known astir nan salary difference.

Court filings person said that FTX’s founders and different apical unit sewage $3.2 cardinal successful payments and loans.

Singh, FTX’s erstwhile caput of engineering, told nan tribunal really he was ‘embarrassed and ashamed’ of nan company’s excessive spending.

He said that it ‘reeked of excess and flashiness’ and it ‘didn’t align pinch what I thought we were building nan institution for’.

Singh said that he recovered retired astir nan ‘enormous’ spread successful FTX customer accounts astir 2 months earlier nan institution collapsed, and that astir of it had gone connected Bankman-Fried’s lavish spending.

He claimed to person ever been ‘intimidated’ by Bankman-Fried and felt progressively uncomfortable pinch nan guidance he was taking FTX.

During his grounds Singh walked nan assemblage done nan $100 cardinal that was spent connected governmental donations, including $5 cardinal to Joe Biden, though he besides gave to Republicans too.

The tribunal heard that Bankman-Fried regarded specified donations arsenic a bully return connected his money and a inexpensive measurement to summation influence.

Singh told nan assemblage astir nan $1.1 cardinal FTX spent connected publicity including $205 cardinal to sanction nan FTX arena successful Miami.

In his testimony, Wang, nan FTX co-founder, described really successful 2019, Bankman-Fried told him to group up nan typical privileges for Alameda which included being capable to person a antagonistic equilibrium - it could beryllium arsenic overmuch arsenic $65 cardinal - and make ‘unlimited withdrawals’ from FTX.

Wang, who pleaded blameworthy to fraud and agreed to cooperate pinch prosecutors, said that moreover erstwhile Alameda didn’t person immoderate money successful its account, it could still return money from FTX.

Assistant US Attorney Roos asked: ‘When Alameda Research withdrew money beneath its zero balance, whose money did it withdraw?’

Wang said: ‘Money belonging to customers of FTX’.

Roos asked if FTX disclosed Alameda’s typical privileges to its investors aliases customers

Wang said no.

On nan last time of his grounds successful tribunal connected Tuesday, nan alleged crypto fraudster periodically smirked and frowned successful consequence to questions astir nan illness of his Bitcoin empire successful November 2022 and gave a slew of evasive answers.

He was probed connected really overmuch he knew astir nan $8billion 'hole' successful his institution finances, who was responsible for it, and his 'cozy' narration pinch Bahamian officials.

Bankman-Fried erstwhile again struggled to reply a barrage of questions astir who was down nan activity of customer money from FTX to Alameda, and he often stole glances astatine nan 12 jurors who will determine his fate.

He could look decades down bars if convicted.

The crypto leader said he doesn't 'remember thing astir peculiar employees' progressive successful sending nan FTX customer deposits to Alameda, and that no-one was fired complete nan disappearance of $8billion successful customer money.

But he besides disagreed pinch charismatic Danielle Sassoon's summary of his position being that 'as CEO of Alameda, immoderate chartless group conscionable spent $8billion without your knowledge'.

Bankman-Fried insisted, 'that's not my testimony' - but didn't connection an replacement communicative during nan cross-examination.

The billionaire conceded that he didn't salary capable attraction to nan day-to-day transactions of his companies. 'I profoundly regret not taking a deeper look,' he told nan court.

'When I was CEO of Alameda, I was concerned pinch Alameda wide consequence guidance and its wide portfolio,' Bankman-Fried added.

'As CEO of FTX I was paying attraction - though not astir arsenic intimately arsenic I should person been - to nan consequence guidance of Alameda accounts pinch FTX specifically.'

Crypto's erstwhile aureate boy admitted to knowing astir nan $8billion liability successful October 2022, and sharing a tweet nan pursuing period to 'reassure' FTX customers that their costs were safe.

He besides said he remembered 'liking' replies from immoderate customers saying they would not retreat funds.