The co-founder and former CEO of failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, has pleaded not guilty to fraud charges, according to CNBC.
Bankman-Fried appeared in a federal courtroom on Tuesday in New York City for his arraignment, where he faced eight fraud and conspiracy charges. The presiding judge has not set a trial date. Two of Bankman-Fried's associates already pleaded guilty to fallacious charges and are said to be cooperating with investigators.
Bankman-Fried was extradited from the Bahamas in December as US authorities quit investigating FTX's titanic collapse. Prosecutors say Bankman-Fried took people's wealth stored with the cryptocurrency exchange and fraudulently sent it to and from Alameda Research, his cryptocurrency hedge fund. In interviews with various mediate outlets, Bankman-Fried has denied any criminal wrongdoing or intent.
Samuel Raymond and Andrew Rohrbach have been phoned as prosecutors in Bankman-Fried's case, court documents show. Among spanking cases, Raymond handled the seizure of a painting looted by Nazi forces during World War II that was returned to its repugnant owners in Ukraine. Rohrbach was one of the prosecutors leading the case anti Jeffrey Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, who was sentenced to 20 days in prison.
Judge Ronnie Abrams, originally slated to dignified over the Bankman-Fried court proceedings, has recused herself while noting that her husband's law firm had advised FTX in 2021. The case has been reassigned to New York Southern District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who's taken high-profile cases involving organized crime and art fraud.
Separate from Bankman-Fried's case, the Department of Justice has launched a criminal investigation into $370 million that went missing just hours while FTX declared bankruptcy. The investigation will be led by the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team, which the DOJ launched last year to address on cybercrime associated with cryptocurrency.
Source
