Gary Wang, one of the co-founders of failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, testified on Thursday that he committed various forms of fraud with Sam Bankman-Fried during the criminal case against the disgraced former FTX CEO and Democrat mega donor.
Wang, who served as the chief technical officer at FTX, told the court that with Bankman-Fried, he committed, “Wire fraud, commodities fraud, securities fraud.”
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (second on left) is led away in handcuffs by officers of the Royal Bahamas Police Force in Nassau, Bahamas, on December 13, 2022. (MARIO DUNCANSON/AFP via Getty Images)
The FTX co-founder is considered one of the prosecution’s star witnesses and said he committed the crimes alongside Bankman-Fried, Caroline Ellison, and Nishad Singh, the other leaders of FTX.
Ellison, who was Bankman-Fried’s one-again-off-again girlfriend, led Alameda Research, the hedge fund associated with the company. Singh was a top FTX engineer and both have admitted their guilt relating to the various alleged crimes committed by the top brass at FTX.
Wang testified about the relationship between FTX and Alameda, saying, “We gave special privileges to Alameda Research which allowed it to withdraw unlimited amounts of funds from the platform (FTX) and lied about this to the public.”
He explained that before FTX collapsed, Alameda had borrowed $8 billion from FTX, which was money belonging to FTX customers. Wang said that Alameda was given a $65 billion credit line which gave the hedge fund a huge advantage over other investors.
Bankman-Fried stands accused of seven counts of fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering on his alleged use of FTX customer funds to cover the losses of his hedge fund, Alameda Research. He also allegedly used those funds to purchase real estate and cover other personal expenses. Bankman-Fried pled not guilty to all counts and faces up to 110 years in prison.
Bankman-Fried’s defense counsel argued on Wednesday that the former FTX CEO and Democrat megadonor is nothing more than a “math nerd who didn’t drink or party” and “didn’t steal from anyone.”
The defense counsel said, “Rather, you will learn that Sam believed, reasonably believed, that loans that FTX made to Alameda were permitted and backed by reasonable security and collateral.”
Sean Moran is a policy reporter for Breitbart News. Follow him on Twitter @SeanMoran3.