Sam Bankman-Fried concluded his third and last day of giving evidence in his criminal proceedings. The defense had finished their part of the case and the jury was discharged for the day. Bankman-Fried, who pleaded not guilty to criminal fraud counts, could be sentenced to life imprisonment if found guilty.
Sam Bankman-Fried's verdict is now in the hands of 12 jurors, who have spent the past 4 weeks near the crypto mogul in a New York courtroom. His defence rested shortly before noon on Tuesday following 3 days of his testimony. The judge will now decide which evidence is valid before the jurors begin their deliberations, with closing arguments to take place the following day. Bankman-Fried, 31, faces a potential life sentence if convicted of fraud in relation to the collapse of FTX and Alameda Research in late 2020. He has pleaded not guilty. Tuesday's session began with a cross-examination by prosecutor Danielle Sassoon. She inquired into Bankman-Fried's relationship with the Prime Minister of the Bahamas, whether he had offered to pay off the country's $11 billion debt, and his jokes about a former FTX executive becoming part of the government. The questioning also touched on the Prime Minister's Miami visit, including his courtside seats at the basketball game at the FTX arena, as well as the exchange's policy of allowing only Bahamians the ability to withdraw funds. Bankman-Fried's replies to these questions were generally vague, and he denied knowing much about it.
Sassoon once again asked Bankman-Fried about the foremost concern in the case — the $8 billion deficiency in FTX's balance sheet. Bankman-Fried declared that he was greatly remorseful for not taking a closer look at it. When he questioned his subordinates on the shortage, Bankman-Fried testified that they "told me they were occupied and I should cease asking inquiries since it was disruptive." Without any other prominent witnesses to testify on behalf of the defense, Bankman-Fried is counting on his capability to persuade the jury that he was not deliberately taking customer funds from FTX to use for a variety of other objectives, including masking Alameda's deficits, procuring his lavish condo in the Bahamas, venture investments and the naming rights for the Miami arena.
Throughout his first two days on the stand, Bankman-Fried insisted that neither he nor his companies fraudulently took customer funds. He attributed a major issue to a lack of risk management, which resulted in serious mistakes. Additionally, he placed responsibility on other former associates and staff members, some of whom had testified against him. Tuesday morning ended with defense attorney Mark Cohen reviewing materials from Bankman-Fried's media encounters after November 11. During these interviews, Bankman-Fried communicated that he had no access to internal documents and could not recall all of his statements. He notably said in a text to a Vox journalist "F--- regulators" and stated that he felt the effort he put in could be interpreted as promoting bad regulation just as much as good regulation. After the break, Cohen asked why Bankman-Fried had not fired anyone when at least $8 billion in liabilities had been discovered. He answered that rather than disposing of personnel he was focused on correcting the situation and ensuring progress. after its CEO was questioned
Regarding the $65 billion line of credit to Alameda, Bankman-Fried testified that this stayed at a maximum withdrawal size, but was normally around the $2 billion mark. Bankman-Fried further stated that he saw the private jet expenses as valid, since the use of it was not for personal means. He noted that it would have been very hard for him to go from the Bahamas to Washington, D.C. as he spent a considerable amount of time there. With the jury no longer in the courtroom for the day and closing statements due on Wednesday, Bankman-Fried has no more opportunities to reduce the prospect of a long prison sentence. Starting Thursday, the jury will commence deliberations. — CNBC's Dawn Giel contributed to this report.WATCH: FTX founder retakes stand after its CEO was questioned
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