Witness Adam Yedidia gave his testimony during the fraud trial of Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX, a bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange. Yedidia, a former friend and colleague of Bankman-Fried, revealed that he and Bankman-Fried’s other former classmates and employees were involved in financial crimes that defrauded FTX customers of billions of dollars.
During the trial, Gary Wang, the co-founder of FTX, admitted to committing financial crimes with Bankman-Fried and others, including wire and commodities fraud. Wang confirmed that Bankman-Fried was present in the courtroom during his testimony.
The trial, which is expected to last for six weeks, will continue with testimony from Caroline Ellison, Bankman-Fried’s girlfriend and a key witness for the prosecution. Bankman-Fried faces multiple federal charges that could result in a life sentence.
Bankman-Fried has remained mostly silent in court, listening to the witnesses and taking notes. However, during Wang’s testimony, he appeared visibly upset.
Wang, who served as the technology chief for FTX, testified about the final days of the company before its collapse. He revealed that an emergency meeting was held to discuss shutting down Alameda, a sister hedge fund to FTX, but they decided against it due to the massive debt.
Prosecutors presented tweets from Bankman-Fried and FTX that misled customers about the company’s financial stability. Wang confirmed that FTX was not fine, and customer assets were at risk.
In November, after FTX declared bankruptcy, Bankman-Fried asked Wang to transfer assets to Bahamian liquidators to maintain control of the company. Wang was not present during the meeting with the securities authority but later cooperated with prosecutors.
Bankman-Fried was aware that Wang and Ellison had turned against him since December when they pleaded guilty to their involvement in the fraud. Wang’s cooperation agreement requires him to answer prosecutors’ questions truthfully.
Wang testified that Alameda received special privileges on FTX, allowing unlimited withdrawals and resulting in an $8 billion debt to FTX. Bankman-Fried was the one calling the shots, and he used Wang’s name to make investments on behalf of FTX.
Wang also revealed that there were disagreements between him and Bankman-Fried, but ultimately, Bankman-Fried had the final say.
During Yedidia’s testimony, he mentioned a Signal thread called “People of the House,” referring to Bankman-Fried’s penthouse in Hong Kong. Yedidia worked in FTX’s Hong Kong office and later in the Bahamas until the company’s collapse. He testified about Bankman-Fried’s assumption that Alameda was paying for the penthouse and shared details about Bankman-Fried’s personal life.
Yedidia was responsible for fixing the code bug that gave preferential treatment to Alameda. He discovered $8 billion in missing customer funds and reported it to Bankman-Fried.
The trial continues with further testimony from witnesses and the presentation of evidence.
Denial of responsibility! Vigour Times is an automatic aggregator of Global media. In each content, the hyperlink to the primary source is specified. All trademarks belong to their rightful owners, and all materials to their authors. For any complaint, please reach us at – [email protected]. We will take necessary action within 24 hours.
