Categories: Trending now

FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried Accused of Witness Tampering

US prosecutors have accused FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried of witness tampering and asked a federal judge to issue an order that would bar the former billionaire and other parties from making public statements likely to interfere with a fair trial.

The prosecutors wrote to US District Judge Lewis Kaplan on Thursday referencing a New York Times article titled “Inside the Private Writings of Caroline Ellison, Star Witness in the FTX Case”.

The article reported excerpts from Ellison’s personal Google documents from before the collapse of FTX in which she spoke about being “pretty unhappy and overwhelmed” with her job and feeling “hurt/rejected” from her breakup with Bankman-Fried.

Ellison led Bankman-Fried’s Alameda Research hedge fund and has pleaded guilty to defrauding investors and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors. In December, Bankman-Fried said he and Ellison had been in a relationship but gave no further details.

Prosecutors said it was apparent Bankman-Fried shared documents with the New York Times and that his lawyers have since confirmed to the government that he met with one of the article’s authors in person and shared documents “that were not part of the government’s discovery material.”

Bankman-Fried’s spokesperson and lawyers did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The New York Times declined to comment, and Ellison’s lawyers did not respond to a Reuters request for comment.

The prosecutors argued that by sharing these documents, Bankman-Fried was trying to malign Ellison’s credibility, and that such conduct could chill witnesses from testifying and taint the jury pool.

“By selectively sharing certain private documents with the New York Times, the defendant is attempting to discredit a witness, cast Ellison in a poor light, and advance his defense through the press and outside the constraints of the courtroom and rules of evidence: that Ellison was a jilted lover who perpetrated these crimes alone”, prosecutors wrote in the letter.

Earlier on Thursday, FTX Trading sued founder Bankman-Fried and other former executives of the cryptocurrency exchange, seeking to recoup more than $1 billion (nearly Rs. 88,200 crore) they allegedly misappropriated before FTX went bankrupt.

© Thomson Reuters 2023  
 


Will the Nothing Phone 2 serve as the successor to the Phone 1, or will the two co-exist? We discuss the company’s recently launched handset and more on the latest episode of Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Spotify, Gaana, JioSaavn, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.
Affiliate links may be automatically generated – see our ethics statement for details.
News Today

Recent Posts

Kareena Kapoor’s Next Untitled Film With Meghna Gulzar Gets Prithviraj Sukumaran On Board

Kareena Kapoor is working with Raazi director Meghna Gulzar for her next film. The project,…

18 hours ago

Purdue basketball freshman Daniel Jacobsen injured vs Northern Kentucky

2024-11-09 15:00:03 WEST LAFAYETTE -- Daniel Jacobsen's second game in Purdue basketball's starting lineup lasted…

18 hours ago

Rashida Jones honors dad Quincy Jones with heartfelt tribute: ‘He was love’

2024-11-09 14:50:03 Rashida Jones is remembering her late father, famed music producer Quincy Jones, in…

18 hours ago

Nosferatu Screening at Apollo Theatre Shows Student Interest in Experimental Cinema – The Oberlin Review

2024-11-09 14:40:03 A silent German expressionist film about vampires accompanied by Radiohead’s music — what…

18 hours ago

What Are Adaptogens? Find Out How These 3 Herbs May Help You Tackle Stress Head-On

Let's face it - life can be downright stressful! With everything moving at breakneck speed,…

18 hours ago

The new Mac Mini takes a small step towards upgradeable storage

Apple’s redesigned Mac Mini M4 has ditched the previous M2 machine’s SSD that was soldered…

18 hours ago