Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of FTX and a prominent donor to the Democratic party, was ordered to be incarcerated by Federal Judge Lewis Kaplan.
The ruling came after Bankman-Fried was found guilty of witness tampering, having leaked writings of his ex-girlfriend and Alameda CEO, Caroline Ellison, to the press.
Despite his confinement, Bankman-Fried continues to wage his legal battle through the media, recently leaking a collection of his unsent tweets and other documents compiled during his house arrest. These documents were sent to Tiffany Fong, a well-known figure in the cryptocurrency industry, who subsequently leaked them to the press.
In these documents, Bankman-Fried expressed concerns about potentially becoming one of the most despised figures globally. He shifted the blame onto Ellison and others, while avoiding any accountability for the disappearance of up to $8 billion from clients.
The New York Post quoted Bankman-Fried as saying, "She continually avoided talking about risk management dodging my suggestions until it was too late. Every time that I reached out with suggestions, it just made her feel worse. Im sure that being exes didnt help."
Bankman-Fried's relationship with Ellison is expected to be a focal point in his trial. Ellison has already turned against him and is anticipated to be a key witness.
Bankman-Fried described Ellison as 'wicked smart', but expressed increasing frustration with her refusal to follow his directive to hedge Alamedas risky trades. He stated, "If Alameda had hedged, it would have remained solvent and prevented the entire unhappy story."
Federal authorities allege that Bankman-Fried misused FTX customer funds to cover risky bets at Alameda and to fund his extravagant lifestyle, which included mingling with celebrities and politicians and purchasing beachfront property in the Bahamas, where his cryptocurrency exchange was based.
In the meantime, the prosecution and Bankman-Fried's defense have submitted their proposed jury questions (Voir dire) to the court, revealing starkly different standards for selection.
Coin Telegraph reported, "The United States government responded to questions the defense has suggested posing to potential jurors during their selection for the case against former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. He faces seven charges of fraud and money laundering in connection with the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange that could land him in prison for decades."
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams criticized the defendant's proposed voir dire as containing numerous unnecessary and time-consuming questions, often soliciting open-ended discussion, as well as questions that are repetitive, prejudicial, and argumentative.
Williams specifically objected to the questions in sections concerning pretrial publicity, the effective altruism philosophical movement, political donations and lobbying, and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). He argued that the pretrial publicity section has a shaky legal foundation, while questions about effective altruism "are a thinly veiled attempt to advance a defense narrative."
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