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It ’s the 5th workweek ofSam Bankman - Fried ’s trialfor seven charges of fraud and money laundering during to his time as the CEO of former crypto exchange FTX . He ’s been on the stand since Thursday to evidence , and there was a tangible shift of tone Monday when prosecutors took over for crossbreeding examination .
On Friday and for part of Monday dawning , Bankman - Fried , dressed in another oversized gray suit , answered questions from his primary defense lawyer , Mark Cohen . The courtroom benches for the public were full .
Sam Bankman - Fried takes the bandstand , but without juryman
At the goal of the defense force ’s interrogatory , Cohen asked Bankman - Fried why he talk out in public shortly after he ill-treat down as CEO and FTX lodge for bankruptcy . “ I felt like it was the right thing to do to talk about what happened , ” he say . “ I had my memory . . . [ but ] very little beyond that , ” he said , referring to him being snub off from access to FTX ’s internal document after his departure .
“ I wanted to apologize for what happened and explicate this as well I can at the sentence , ” he said . After FTX collapsed , Bankman - Fried went on “ Good Morning America ” and other outlets , as well as Twitter Spaces with internet personality like Mario Nawfal .
Once assistant U.S. lawyer for the SDNY Danielle Sassoon began to hybridise - analyze Bankman - Fried in front of a jury , he was quick to answer , but only repeated a fistful of uncertain construction , like “ I do n’t recall , ” “ I may have , ” “ Sounds plausible , ” “ I ’m not certain , ” “ Possibly , ” and “ Sounds right . ” He waffled so many time that the overflow room , make full with public spectators and other reporters , repeat with laughter .
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Sassoon appeared to be trying to limn the former CEO as a serial prevaricator , using his highly public past consultation before his arrest in mid - December as ammunition .
She question him about his involvement in Alameda Research , the sister trading fellowship of FTX , of which he owned 90 % . When asked whether he was involved in Alameda ’s trading strategies , he sardonically reply , “ Depends how you delimitate trading . ” This number after Bankman - Friedtook the stand without jurorson Thursday so Judge Lewis Kaplan could fix what the ex - FTX CEO could say when he remove the stand on Monday .
Bankman - Fried also said he was not “ generally ” making trading decisiveness at Alameda , but was not “ surround off , ” either . After Bankman - Fried repeatedly said he did not recall secernate Caroline Ellison , the former chief operating officer of Alameda , to make various trades , Sassoon pluck up government evidence that showed he did .
The prosecution also brought up a number of Bankman - Fried ’s statements , video and consultation , both before and after he step down as CEO of FTX , where he said he was “ not involve at all in the trading ” of Alameda and has n’t been for years since it was a “ conflict . ”
The prosecution also said there was metadata that proved Bankman - Fried had access to Alameda ’s balance sheet in 2022 , involve that he was deeply regard in the crypto trading firm even though he was not its “ chief operating officer ” at the time ( he stepped down in 2021 ) .
Throughout the pursuance ’s cross - examination , Kaplan seemed to be getting spoil ; he had to cue Bankman - Fried to answer the doubtfulness alternatively of replying with unlike answers .
Sam Bankman - Fried says he did n’t defraud FTX customers or take their monetary fund
touch on to the public story Bankman - Fried had painted in the yesteryear , Sassoon asked if he know how to enjoin a good story , to which the ex - FTX CEO respond , “ I do n’t bed , bet what metrical you apply . ”
Sassoon also partake in a individual conversation that Bankman - Fried had , in which he called some customers “ silent whoreson . ” Bankman - Fried said that comment only referred to a “ specific subset ” of FTX customer , not all of them .
‘I don’t recall’
The rest of Monday afternoon was fill the criminal prosecution asking Bankman - Fried a question , and him demurring . For example , when Sassoon asked if Bankman - Fried had access code to FTX ’s AWS database , he enounce , “ to my noesis , I did n’t ” then added , “ I never used it . ”
curtly after , the criminal prosecution pulled up evidence : metadata showing he ask for access code to the database after the company ’s failure . They ask again if he tried to get access after the bankruptcy , to which he testified , “ yes , ” change his posture .
The government also pull up the alternative balance sheets thatEllison created and testifiedabout . Sassoon asked Bankman - Fried whether he ’d see it . “ I do n’t have a recollection of seeing it , no , ” he respond . Once again , the prosecution pointed to metadata showing that he look at the spreadsheet at the clock time it was make . “ I know , in my view , there ’s metadata that indicate I take in it , ” Bankman - Fried said .
The prosecution also bring up Alameda’s$65 billion line of credit . When require whether Bankman - Fried knew that Alameda could borrow from FTX without posting collateral , he said “ that was not my sympathy ” and add together “ I ’m not certain I understood that then . ”
Correction : This report was updated to reflect that Bankman - Fried took the stand without jurors on Thursday , not Friday .
This story was update at 1:55 p.m. to admit testimonial from later on in the day .
