On Wednesday, in the criminal trial of FTX ex CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, it was revealed that Alameda Research bribed a Chinese government official to get its way to $1 billion of its frozen funds on other crypto exchanges linked to money laundering.
In the continued testimony of Caroline Ellison, she disclosed that at the FTX and Alameda co-founder’s command, the company sent a $150 million payment to the official who is yet to be identified.
The funds of the firm were ceased on the OKX and Huobi exchanges in 2021 — where Alameda had traded with another party that is accused of money laundering.
“He seemed concerned,” Ellison said of Bankman-Fried’s behaviour, and said he had many meetings and even started a Signal group chat to talk about how to get back the funds. According to Ellison, some of the companies’ Chinese workers were also a part of the meetings. Initially, they tried a lawyer, but that didn’t work out, she said. Furthermore, they tried to use the identity of Thai prostitutes to create new accounts on those exchanges in order to retrieve those funds. However, that didn’t work either so, SBF — who earlier did not want to engage in bribery, as suggested by an employee — reversed his decision and agreed to do it.
An ex Alameda trader named “Handi” did not agree to the bribe when it was first suggested; as her father was a government official, Ellison said.
Ellison described that it was written this way due to SBF having threatened before about using the kind of language that “could eventually be used against us in court,” she stated.
SBF’s own philosophy and worldview caused these events to manifest.
- “[SBF] said he was a utilitarian,” Ellison explained. “He didn’t think rules like ‘don’t lie’ and ‘don’t steal’ fit into that framework.”
In the electrifying trial of FTX’s former founder Sam Bankman-Fried in full swing, the witness list is much awaited. Bankman-Fried’s trial will decide whether one of the biggest financial deceit in history was actually a fraud.
Here are some of the key players in the entire set of events that unfolded:
- Sam Bankman-Fried, who is the co-founder and former CEO of FTX and its trading firm, Alameda Research. Widely known in the world of crypto, the entrepreneur was raised in Palo Alto, California, by parents who are law professors at Stanford University. After completing his graduation from MIT, he worked at Jane Street and went on to start Alameda and later founded FTX.
- Caroline Ellison: The ex CEO of Alameda group, she was a member of Bankman-Fried’s inner circle. She’s also the daughter of two MIT professors and joined Alameda post working at Jane Street. In December last year, she was found guilty and took the witness stand this week to give her testimony in Bankman-Fried’s trial.
- Ryan Salame: Being the co-CEO of FTX’s subsidiary in the Bahamas, Salame took part in making political donations to GOP candidates at the order of Bankman-Fried, and he was found guilty in making illegal political contributions and conspiracy to run an unlawful money transmitter.
- Gary Wang: A co-founder as well as former CTO of Alameda and FTX, Wang knew Bankman-Fried since high school, and the two were roommates later at MIT. He was a member of Bankman-Fried’s inner circle. After college, he worked at Google and then joined Bankman-Fried to start Alameda.
