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<\/a><\/div>\nThe eleventh day of the Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) trial revolved around the testimony of accounting experts brought forward by the prosecution to shed light on the disappearance of $9 billion in FTX customer funds that preceded the cryptocurrency exchange\u2019s bankruptcy.<\/p>\n
The main witnesses for the day were Professor Peter Easton, an esteemed accounting expert from the University of Notre Dame, and FBI accountant Paige Owens, who revealed the findings of their in-depth analysis of FTX and Alameda\u2019s accounts and bank statements.<\/p>\n
Peter Easton\u2019s testimony<\/h2>\n
Easton\u2019s testimony was a meticulous analysis that unveiled the extent of the purported misappropriation of FTX customer and investor funds by the exchange\u2019s sister hedge fund, Alameda Research.<\/p>\n
Easton\u2019s scrutiny disclosed that from January 2021 until Nov. 11, 2022, accounts held by Alameda on FTX consistently displayed substantial deficits despite continuing payouts to meet financial obligations.<\/p>\n
Easton revealed that out of the $11.3 billion in FTX customer funds that were supposed to be held by Alameda Research, only $2.3 billion were found in its bank accounts.\u00a0He detailed how these funds were diverted for various purposes, including investments at SkyBridge Capital, property acquisitions, political contributions, and charity foundations.<\/p>\n
One particularly telling trace of funds led to Modulo Capital, where a substantial sum of customer funds was invested through Alameda. Additionally, FTX customer crypto assets were used to repay a significant portion of a loan that Alameda had received from Genesis Capital.<\/p>\n
The professor asserted that a staggering 68% of Alameda\u2019s third-party loans, valued at roughly $4.5 billion, were serviced with FTX customer funds \u2014 a disturbing mingling of resources.<\/p>\n
The testimony also revealed that the acquisition of Binance\u2019s $2.2 billion stake by FTX was financially underpinned by $1.2 billion sourced from \u201ccustomers on the FTX exchange.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also told the courtroom that SBF\u2019s parents, Joe Bankman and Barbara Fried, acquired a $16.4 million property in the Bahamas, most likely by utilizing customer funds.<\/p>\n
Trail of political contributions<\/h2>\n
The next witness to take the stand from the prosecution was FBI accountant Paige Owens, who provided insights into the extensive political donations attributed to SBF, Nishad Singh, and Ryan Salame.<\/p>\n
According to Owens, Alameda\u2019s Prime Trust account executed seven transfers \u2014 cumulatively amounting to $47 million \u2014 to SBF\u2019s personal Prime Trust account between January 2022 and April 2022.<\/p>\n
The prosecution contends that a substantial portion of these funds was directed towards various political action committees, including Guardians Against Pandemics, Building a Stronger Future, and multiple Democratic PACs.<\/p>\n
Nishad Singh\u2019s political donations, surpassing $3 million, originated from Alameda and FTX Digital Markets bank accounts, with recipients including numerous PACs and campaign funds.\u00a0Ryan Salame, the CEO of FTX Digital Markets, similarly received funds for political donations.<\/p>\n
Public statements and censure<\/h2>\n
The prosecution also brought Eliora Katz, the former director of government relations and policy at FTX\u2019s US division, to the stand to discuss some of SBF\u2019s public statements.<\/p>\n
Katz read tweets and written testimonies by SBF from congressional hearings held in 2021 and 2022.<\/p>\n
Some of these statements contradicted the timeline of her employment at the company, suggesting that SBF had made public assertions about FTX before she officially joined in April 2022.<\/p>\n
Another witness, Google Cory Gaddis, also took the stand briefly but was censured by Judge Kaplan due to a lack of expertise. The judge admonished both the prosecution and the defense for wasting the court\u2019s time.<\/p>\n
The defense expressed concerns about SBF\u2019s access to Adderall and its potential impact on his capacity to focus, raising questions about whether he will testify. SBF will reportedly be given an extended-release dose from Oct. 19.<\/p>\n
Early conclusion likely<\/h2>\n
The trial is progressing ahead of schedule, with the prosecution likely to conclude its case next week, leaving the defense with critical decisions regarding its strategy.<\/p>\n
Easton\u2019s testimony marked a crucial moment in the trial, as he is one of the final government witnesses before prosecutors conclude their case in the third week of proceedings. Earlier testimonies included three members of SBF\u2019s inner circle \u2013 Caroline Ellison, Gary Wang, and Nishad Singh \u2014 all pleaded guilty and cooperating with the government.<\/p>\n
Despite the defense\u2019s efforts to undermine their accounts, these witnesses painted a picture of Bankman-Fried allegedly orchestrating the fraud and making high-risk decisions, even when close associates raised concerns.<\/p>\n
The ongoing trial continues to captivate observers as it uncovers allegations of financial impropriety and political contributions linked to one of the cryptocurrency industry\u2019s prominent figures.\u00a0Should SBF be convicted of the charges, he faces substantial legal consequences.<\/p>\n
The eleventh day of the Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) trial revolved around the testimony of accounting experts brought forward by the prosecution to shed light on the disappearance of $9 billion in FTX customer funds that preceded the cryptocurrency exchange\u2019s bankruptcy. The main witnesses for the day were Professor Peter Easton, an esteemed accounting expert from […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":169207,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[230,225,221,227,226,228,229,60,223,224,222],"class_list":["post-176976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cryptocurrency","tag-brave","tag-coinbase","tag-crypto","tag-decentralised","tag-decentralized","tag-decentralized-exchange","tag-erc-20","tag-featured","tag-meme-coin","tag-robinhood","tag-solana"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=176976"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176976\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":176978,"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/176976\/revisions\/176978"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/169207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=176976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=176976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dripp.zone\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=176976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}