Two Top Former Executives at Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX Plead Guilty to Fraud Charges

Two former FTX executives pleaded guilty to fraud charges and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors, The New York Times reports.

Carolina Ellison, the girlfriend of founder Sam Bankman-Fried who served as the CEO of his Alameda Research crypto hedge fund, and Gary Wang, a fellow founder of FTX, agreed to plead guilty, federal prosecutors said on Wednesday.

The two executives also face fraud charges from the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

The guilty pleas came as Bankman-Fried agreed to be extradited from the Bahamas to face trial in New York.

Close associates:

Ellison and Wang both lived with Bankman-Fried in a posh penthouse in the Bahamas and played key roles in the company’s collapse.

The SEC said that Ellison used FTX customer deposits to fund Alameda transactions and that Wang created a software that allowed the funds to be diverted.

“Ellison and Wang were active participants in the scheme to deceive FTX’s investors and engaged in conduct that was critical to its success,” the SEC said in a statement.

Ellison pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud and five conspiracy counts involving wire, securities and commodities fraud and money laundering.

Wang pleaded guilty to wire fraud and three conspiracy counts.

SBF probe moves along:

Prosecutors accused SBF of funneling FTX customer deposits to Alameda, political donations and investments in other crypto companies.

Prosecutors alleged that he defrauded customers, investors and lenders.

He is facing charges including fraud, money laundering and campaign finance violations.

He is set to appear before a federal judge as early as Thursday.

 

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