Â鶹´«Ã½

Skip to main content

Opening statements set to begin at trial of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried

This courtroom sketch shows Sam Bankman-Fried, center, flanked by his defense attorneys Christian Everdell, left and Mark Cohen, right, as jury selection began in his fraud trial, Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023. (AP Photo/Elizabeth Williams) This courtroom sketch shows Sam Bankman-Fried, center, flanked by his defense attorneys Christian Everdell, left and Mark Cohen, right, as jury selection began in his fraud trial, Tuesday, Oct. 3, 2023. (AP Photo/Elizabeth Williams)
Share
NEW YORK -

Opening statements were set to begin Wednesday after a jury was chosen to hear the fraud trial of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried in New York City.

Bankman-Fried, 31, maintains he was not to blame for fraud that prosecutors allege in seven charges brought against him since his arrest last December in the Bahamas.

They say the California man defrauded thousands of investors and customers in his businesses of billions of dollars by siphoning off their money for his own uses, including financing his businesses, buying real estate and making big political contributions to try to influence government regulation of cryptocurrency.

Defence lawyers insist that their client had no criminal intent as he became famous in the crypto world while growing FTX and a related business, Alameda Research, into multibillion dollar heavyweights in the cryptocurrency industry.

Attorneys and Judge Lewis A. Kaplan reduced a pool of 45 prospective jurors to a jury of 12 with six alternates just before opening statements were set to start at noon. The jury was expected to sit through the duration of a trial projected to last up to six weeks.

Bankman-Fried became a target of investigators when FTX collapsed last November amid a rush of customers seeking to recover their deposits, less than a year after Bankman-Fried spent millions of dollars on the 2022 Super Bowl with celebrity advertisements promoting FTX as the "safest and easiest way to buy and sell crypto."

Bankman-Fried was extradited to the United States from the Bahamas after his arrest last December.

Originally under house arrest for nearly eight months, his US$250 million bond was revoked and he was jailed in August after a judge concluded he'd tried to influence trial witnesses.

CTVNews.ca Top Stories

Days after a political sign was erected outside Chip Wilson's Vancouver mansion, the waterfront property has been vandalized with graffiti.

Two people are in hospital after they were chased and shot at in what appears to be an act of road rage before eventually flipping their car while trying to escape, police say.

A disgraced Winnipeg high school football coach convicted of sexual assault and luring will spend 20 years behind bars.

The day after a minivan was set ablaze outside Vancouver City Hall, a 78-year-old man has been criminally charged.

Local Spotlight

A unique form of clouds made an appearance over the skies of Ottawa on Sunday evening.

Bernie Hicks, known as the ‘Batman of Amherst,’ always wanted to sit in a Batmobile until a kind stranger made it happen.

Bubi’s Awesome Eats, located on University Ave West took to social media to announce the closure on Friday.

Weeneebayko Area Health Authority and the Government of Ontario have awarded a $1.8 billion fixed-price contract to design, build and finance a new Far North hospital.

Manitobans are in cleanup mode after intense winds barreled through southern parts of the province this weekend.

Avry Wortman, 13, scored two touchdowns on Sunday during her team's win in the under 14 Greater Moncton Football Association.

A gargantuan gourd – affectionately named ‘Orangina’ by the urban gardeners who grew it in the front yard of their Vancouver home – earned the massive honour of being named B.C.’s heaviest giant pumpkin Saturday.

Chantal Kreviazuk is set to return to Winnipeg to mark a major milestone in her illustrious musical career.

From the beaches of Cannes to the bustling streets of New York City, a new film by a trio of Manitoba directors has toured the international film festival circuit to much pomp and circumstance.

Stay Connected