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Sam Bankman-Fried\u2019s attorneys had their opportunity on Thursday to poke holes in the narrative Caroline Ellison has been spinning. She is the government\u2019s star witness in the disgraced FTX founder\u2019s criminal trial. They aren\u2019t getting too far yet, although it\u2019s still early.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Bankman-Fried\u2019s lead counsel Mark Cohen handled Ellison\u2019s cross examination, taking on lead prosecutor Danielle Sassoon. Cohen made it less than five minutes into his questioning before calling the first sidebar of the day \u2014 a disruptive and time-consuming activity senior Judge Lewis Kaplan has requested they keep to a minimum.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Read more from our opinion section: <\/strong>Stop putting Caroline Ellison\u2019s appearance on trial<\/a><\/p>\n Cohen\u2019s one win may have been when he successfully got Ellison to admit that she told prosecutors early on in their investigation that Bankman-Fried<\/a> may have been more in the dark about the location of FTX customer assets than the prosecution has led the jury to believe.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI recalled saying that\u2026he might not know this was happening,\u201d Ellison said on the stand, referring to what she may have told prosecutors during a December 2022 meeting. \u201cSomething like that.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Read more:<\/strong> \u2018Bombshell\u2019 testimony and \u2018hard to watch\u2019 cross-examinations: A firsthand account of the SBF trial<\/a><\/p>\n Cohen was specifically wondering if Ellison<\/a> had spilled to the government that Bankman-Fried may have been unaware that FTX customer fiat wire transfers were still going to the Alameda-controlled \u201cNorth Dimension\u201d bank account, even after the exchange made a switch.\u00a0<\/p>\n Some legacy FTX customers still transferred funds to North Dimension even after exchange operators had created an account under the FTX<\/a> name, Ellison said.\u00a0<\/p>\n On Wednesday, Sassoon expressed her frustrations with Bankman-Fried<\/a> and what she called his \u201cintimidating\u201d antics to Kaplan. She accused the defendant of laughing and scoffing while Ellison was on the stand, a claim Cohen vehemently denied.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cYour Honor, this is ridiculous,\u201d Cohen said during the sidebar. \u201cThe defendant is attending this trial.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Kaplan mostly sided with the defense, a rare win for Bankman-Fried\u2019s team, and said he had not seen Bankman-Fried make any inappropriate reactions.<\/p>\n Ellison, former CEO of Alameda Research and Bankman-Fried\u2019s on-again-off-again girlfriend, pleaded guilty to seven counts of fraud and conspiracy<\/a> ahead of the jury trial.\u00a0<\/p>\n Read more:<\/strong> 5 hidden gems from Caroline Ellison\u2019s FTX testimony you might\u2019ve missed<\/a><\/p>\n She faces a maximum prison sentence of 110 years, plus potential fines and restitution payments. Ellison is cooperating with prosecutors in the hopes of receiving a more lenient sentence, she told the court Wednesday.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Sassoon spent half of Tuesday and all day Wednesday with Ellison. Cohen told the court Thursday that he expects his cross examination to take most of the day and could spill over into Friday.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t miss the next big story \u2013 join our\u00a0free daily newsletter<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n\u00a0Day 2 for Caroline\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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