Behind the FTX Scandal: Caroline Ellison Exposes Deep Secrets in SBF’s Trial

The post Behind the FTX Scandal: Caroline Ellison Exposes Deep Secrets in SBF’s Trial appeared first on Coinpedia Fintech News

In the world of law, where every word matters, an incredible testimony has changed the course of the ongoing saga – the FTX exchange collapse.

Sam Bankman-Fried, the mastermind behind the FTX exchange, is in the midst of a courtroom battle, facing allegations of fraud, money laundering, and market manipulation.

But what’s truly mind-blowing is the surprising testimony from an unexpected source – SBF’s ex-girlfriend, Caroline Ellison.

Her testimony is so shocking that they could potentially put SBF behind bars for 110 years or even life.

So today, we are shifting our focus to Caroline Ellison, a woman who is making headlines for her crucial courtroom testimony, a testimony that’s altering the entire trajectory of this complex court ruling.

Well, Who is she, and what’s her role in the ongoing FTX Story?

The Story of Caroline Ellison 

Caroline Ellison was born in November 1994 in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. She did great in school.

When she was 18, she got a scholarship to go to Stanford University, where she completed her math degree in 2016. Following her college education, she completed two internships at Jane Street. She did so well in her internships there, they hired her after she graduated.

It was at Jane Street Capital where Caroline crossed paths with Sam Bankman-Fried. Sam had already worked for several years at Jane Street’s New York before quitting in 2017 to establish his own trading and investment firm, Alameda Research. 

The next year, Caroline met Sam and was impressed by his ideas, so she decided to join his new project. Her real interest was in making money as the interest in cryptocurrencies grew. 

Sam saw the growing interest in it too, so he started FTX, a cryptocurrency exchange, in 2019. FTX did well during the crypto boom in 2020, with the industry being worth $3 trillion!

In 2021, after three years at Alameda Research, Caroline became co-CEO with Sam Trabucco.

How Almeda & FTX EXchange Began to Fall 

Later, in January 2022, FTX’s value reached $32 billion, but by November 2022, everything had changed. A CoinDesk article in November 2022 revealed the misdirection of customer funds to Alameda Research. 

It was found that Alameda Research had borrowed an astounding $13 billion from FTX customers by September 2022. Further, FTX’s leaked balance sheet indicated $9 billion in debts, $900 million in assets, and misleading entries, resulting in a negative $8 billion balance.

Alameda freely borrowed from FTX, mainly from customer deposits. Authorities further arrested Bankman-Fried, Carolina Ellison, Gary Wang, and Nishad Singh for multiple fraud charges with FTX.

Last year in December, Ms Ellison pleaded guilty to fraud and conspiracy. She joined two other former FTX executives — Gary Wang and Nishad Singh — in agreeing to cooperate with the prosecutors pursuing Mr. Bankman-Fried.

Caroline Ellison Testimony 

In Mr. Bankman-Fried’s fraud trial on the 10th of Oct, 2023, Caroline Ellison testified for about four hours. Her testimony began with the questioning to identify SBF. 

Ms. Ellison took more than 10 seconds to identify Mr. Bankman-Fried when a prosecutor asked her to point him out. Within the first 15 minutes, she began blaming Mr. Bankman-Fried for the crimes that led to FTX’s downfall.

She testified that he instructed her to use FTX customer deposits for Alameda Research’s investments and loans. Alameda took around $14 billion from FTX Customers, only repaying some of it. 

In her testimony, Ellison provided a list of “things Sam is freaking out about.” Among the items on this list was buying SNAP,” the parent company of Snapchat.

Also, she mentioned that SBF was planning to“raise funds from MBS” from the Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman and to trade Japanese government bonds. Ellison also added “getting regulators to crack down on Binance” to the list. 

Bankman-Fried and Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao had a long public rivalry, with Binance accusing the former FTX CEO of spreading rumours ahead of FTX’s collapse. 

Further, when asked about the character of SBF, She described Mr. Bankman-Fried as ambitious, envisioning himself as a leader in major corporations and politics. According to her, he even aspired to become the U.S. President, with a 5% chance of success.

2nd day Of Trail

On the 2nd day of her testimony, Ellison said, SBF told me to come up with alternative ways to present Alameda’s balance sheet information. 

He wanted me to hide things on our balance sheet. So, I prepared seven different balance sheets. “I did not want to be dishonest, but I presented the alternatives to Sam and let him decide,”

Of the seven alternatives, Bankman-Fried chose to present the version that did not disclose the $9.9 billion owed to FTX customers to make Alameda look less risky. 

She also claimed that Mr Bankman-Fried directed her to keep selling Bitcoin if its price went over $20,000. He even instructed her to transfer $500 million from FTX to Genesis despite doubts about the transaction’s honesty.

Further, when asked about releasing the $1 billion funds locked up in China and how they were accessed, Ellison revealed that Alameda had paid a $150 million bribe to Chinese government officials to facilitate the release.

Lastly, Ellison described moments of emotional breakdown; she confessed that it was “the worst week of my life” but strangely “the happiest I’ve been in a year.” She expressed immense relief as the moment she had awaited had finally arrived. 

She mentioned that she didn’t have to lie anymore, although she still felt very sorry for the people they had let down.

Conclusion 

Ellison was terminated from her position after FTX and Alameda filed for bankruptcy. In December 2022, she admitted to wrongdoing. She pleaded guilty to charges like wire fraud, securities fraud, and money laundering conspiracy. 

As part of her agreement, she promised to repay an amount set by the court & to become a star witness in the FTX case. Meanwhile, the fate of SBF, a former titan in the crypto industry, now rests in the hands of the legal system.