Capital Economy, Business and Finance
Sam Bankman-Fried thought he could be president one day, his ex-girlfriend said. He also directed her to pilfer at least $8 billion from customers’ deposits in his FTX crypto exchange to repay debts and fund investments by the Alameda hedge fund she ran on his behalf, she said. Caroline Ellison is 28. This time last year she was living the crypto dream in the Bahamas with SBF, who is 31, as it turned into a nightmare. He was notionally worth $26 billion. Yesterday he was convicted in New York on seven counts of fraud in the biggest case of its kind since the collapse of the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme. He faces decades in prison when sentenced next year. Ellison and other former FTX / Alameda executives face prosecution too, but hope for leniency in exchange for testifying against SBF – whose rumpled look was a carefully curated facade, Ellison said, and who took a gamble by taking the stand himself to claim he made mistakes but didn’t steal. The jury didn’t buy it, agreeing to convict in four hours flat.