FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried will plead not guilty to eight counts of fraud at a hearing next week, according to the Wall Street Journal.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York previously charged Bankman-Fried with eight counts of fraud, alleging that she oversaw one of the largest financial frauds in U.S. history.
Meanwhile, just days after the 30-year-old posted $250 million bail from his house arrest, Alameda broke his silence by downplaying claims he had reactivated his wallets.
The embattled cryptocurrency tycoon took to social media on Friday to deny access to now-bankrupt trading firm Alameda Research, a sister company of FTX.
Disgraced cryptocurrency tycoon Sam Bankman-Fried will plead not guilty to eight counts of fraud at a court hearing next week, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Bankman-Fried’s parents’ house where he would take refuge during his house arrest
“None of this is me,” he said on Twitter in a post linked to an article from cointelegraph.com, which covers a wide range of news on blockchain technology, crypto assets and emerging fintech trends.
The article mentioned money being transferred to crypto wallets days after the former CEO was released on bail.
Alameda claims that transfers from wallets are “in the public interest,” but more so than how the funds are transferred.
“I did not transfer any of these funds and I could not; I no longer have access to them,” Bankman-Fried said.
According to Forkast, a website that reports on emerging technology, a second set of cryptocurrency transactions on Thursday were allegedly executed by liquidators.
Blockchain analytics firm Nansen spoke to the new transactions after cryptocurrency wallets associated with Alameda Research, the trading arm of Bahamas-based cryptocurrency exchange FTX.com, resumed activity on Wednesday for the first time since December 1.
The embattled cryptocurrency tycoon denied access to trading firm Alameda Research, FTX’s sister company, on social media on Friday.
This has caused “major alarm” among industry watchers, they said in the speech.
Bankman-Fried is expected to enter a plea next week in response to criminal charges alleging he defrauded investors and looted billions of dollars in client funds in a failed cryptocurrency exchange.
The court confirmed to DailyMail.com that the 30-year-old will be arraigned before US District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan federal court at 2pm on January 3, three days after the new year.
Kaplan was given the case Tuesday after the original judge recused herself for advising the FTX before the shocking collapse of her husband’s law firm.
Bankman-Fried is accused of engaging in years of “fraud of epic proportions,” primarily using client deposits to support the trading firm Alameda Research, as well as to buy real estate and make record political contributions.
Bankman-Fried, the founder and former CEO of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, was handcuffed and taken to the plane on December 21 when he was extradited from the Bahamas to the United States.
Barbara Fried, the mother of the embattled FTX founder, was seen arriving in court in New York on December 22. Bankman-Fried’s parents agreed to sign a $250 million bond
The embattled “crypto bro” faces two counts of wire fraud and six counts of conspiracy, including money laundering and campaign finance violations.
If convicted, he faces up to 115 years in prison or life in prison.
Before his arrest in the Bahamas on Dec. 12, SBF admitted to risk management failures at FTX but said he did not believe he would face criminal charges.
Two of his top partners, former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison and former FTX chief technology officer Gary Wang, pleaded guilty to their roles in the collapse of FTX and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.
Bankman-Fried was released on $250 million bail on December 22 and ordered to remain under house arrest at the $4 million Palo Alto, California home where she and her parents teach at Stanford Law School.
FTX filed for bankruptcy protection on Nov. 11 as the once-vaunted firm collapsed under the weight of its failed system.