According to prosecutor Segundo Rehn, SBF “siphoned other people’s money into investments” and “spent this money in every way possible for himself.” Furthermore, he claimed that SBF used the money to make political donations in exchange for favors from powerful individuals in the Capitol.
Before the jury, the prosecutor also stated that Bankman-Fried diverted client funds to a “small and secret” company called Alameda Research. He used over $10 billion from FTX to pay off Alameda’s debts, ordering the creation of false financial statements to cover up the action. However, these false statements leaked online, leading to the collapse of FTX.
Finally, the prosecutor declared that the DOJ plans to present documents, investor files, financial statements, and deleted tweets from SBF during the trial.
The Defense Statement
Bankman-Fried’s defense responded by stating that the former founder of FTX acted in good faith. They further asserted that the company’s collapse was not his fault, but rather that of one of his employees: Caroline Ellison, CEO of Alameda and SBF’s ex-girlfriend.
The lawyers claimed that Ellison, who pleaded guilty and is expected to testify in the trial, failed to implement safeguards, resulting in the collapse.
According to the defense, SBF never had the intention to steal clients’ money.