Sam Bankman-Fried claimed he did not steal money and blamed the collapse of the bankrupt FTX exchange on a major crash in cryptocurrency markets, according to an unexpected post a month after his arrest for fraud in the US, Reuters reports.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan last month said Bankman-Fried embezzled billions of dollars from FTX clients to pay off debts for his hedge fund, Alameda Research, buy luxury real estate and sponsor political campaigns in the US. He has pleaded not guilty.
“I did not steal funds and I certainly did not steal billions,” Bankman-Freed wrote on the online platform Substack, in a rare public statement for an American detainee.
Advocates typically advise clients to remain silent before trial because prosecutors may use their comments against them in court. His trial is scheduled to begin on October 2, 2023.
In his post, Bankman-Fried did not directly address the charges that he misled investors and lenders about the financial circumstances of FTX and Alameda.
He argued that Alameda failed to hedge against an “extreme” crash in the cryptocurrency markets last year.
“Alameda became illiquid, and so did FTX International, because Alameda had an open position in FTX,” he wrote.
The 30-year-old former billionaire also said that the US arm of FTX is “fully solvent” and that its international unit has billions of dollars in assets.
“If it restarts, I believe there is a serious chance that customers will get it back,” he wrote.
Last month, two of his closest associates pleaded guilty to defrauding clients and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors’ investigation.
Caroline Ellison, a former Alameda CEO, testified that Bankman-Freed and other FTX executives received billions of dollars in secret loans from Alameda.
Read Also: FTX collapse: Sam Bankman-Freed pleads not guilty
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