Trial against crypto fraudster starts tomorrow

Sam Bankman-Fried stands accused of multi-billion dollar fraud – but insists that he has not committed any crime.

It has previously been pointed out that the 31-year-old was one of the Democratic Party’s and the Biden campaign’s largest individual financiers.

It has been reported that billions of dollars mysteriously disappeared after the crypto exchange FTX crashed, and that the founder Sam Bankman Fried apparently bears the main responsibility for the fraud.

Now the trial against him is starting and it seems likely that Bankman-Fried will defend himself by claiming that he did not think he was doing anything illegal or inappropriate – and also try to undermine the credibility of those who contradict his version, Reuters reports.

The crypto entrepreneur’s lawyers are believed to be focusing on insisting that their client “lacked criminal intent” and that it was “mistakes” that led to his clients losing their wealth and investments.

However, a large body of testimony suggests that Bankman-Fried was fully aware that his hedge fund, Almeda Research, had no right to borrow FTX clients money to pay debts, make investments or lend billions to Bankman-Fried himself and other executives – contradicting claims that he acted in good faith.

It should also be noted that three former executives at Alameda and FTX have already pleaded guilty to involvement in the fraud and will testify against Bankman-Fried during the trial.