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Sam Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty in the US government’s criminal case against him over the collapse of his crypto exchange FTX, Reuters reported.
At a hearing on Tuesday before US District Judge Lewis Kaplan in New York, Bankman-Fried’s lawyer spoke for him, saying, “He pleads not guilty to all counts,” AP reported.
Bankman-Fried’s plea, which wasn’t a surprise, doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll definitely be fighting the charges and heading to a trial. It’s more likely a placeholder in the early stage of the proceedings, which will give him time to get a sense of the prosecutors’ case against him and if he’s interested in trying to strike a potential plea deal.
Bankman-Fried is facing 8 criminal counts against him over what the US government has described as an epic fraud that led to the loss of $8 billion in FTX customer funds. The charges against Bankman-Fried — including wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering — carry penalties that could amount to life in prison for the 30-year-old.
