Former FTX boss Sam Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty on Thursday to charges that he conspired to flaunt campaign finance laws and also bribed Chinese officials. The incriminated FTX co-founder made the plea in a court hearing in the Manhattan Federal Court, preceded by US District Judge Lewis Kaplan.
The latest development means that Bankman-Fried has followed suit in his last court plea, where he also pleaded not guilty to charges of wire fraud. He was indicted for allegedly exploiting FTX and defrauding its customers of millions of dollars, which led to the crypto exchange filing for bankruptcy in November.
The Denial Continues
The former FTX boss has yet to agree to any charge leveled against him since his Bahamas arrest last December. Despite his close friends admitting to charges and cooperating with the law enforcement team, SBF remains resolute.
Bankman-Fried even tried to convince the public of his innocence in a blog post during his bail, where he admitted to not taking proper risk management during his tenure but stated he did not loot customers’ money. SBF noted in the blog post that FTX US was fully solvent, and the crypto exchange should have restarted if he was still in power.
Earlier in the week, SBF’s troubles increased as US prosecutors charged him with bribing one or more Chinese officials with digital assets worth $40 million. He did this to facilitate unfreezing an account seized by the Chinese government tied to defunct Alameda Research. Bankman-Fried was charged earlier with flaunting money in US political campaigns in Washington to get favors from people in power.
Attention Turns to October Hearing
Following the denial, attention is now focused on his next hearing, which will be in October. The under-fire former crypto billionaire might receive a lengthy jail sentence if convicted in the trial. His chances of escaping the charges are getting slimmer by the day following fresh indictments against him.
SBF is on bail after agreeing to a $250 million bail bond. However, this release clause was recently reviewed and amended following interrogations of a possible VPN use to contact FTX employees to influence his prosecution.
