Last Updated on October 22, 2023 by Bitfinsider

According to new court documents from the prosecution, Bankman-Fried was living large thanks to billions of dollars in customer funds from FTX.

Even in the months before the demise of the cryptocurrency exchange, the disgraced founder of FTX and his friends indulged in extravagant spending on real estate, gifts, investments, and other types of spending.

Having a meeting with President Bill Clinton in midtown Manhattan was one of the experiences Bankman-Fried cherished, including a meal with the chairman of the sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia, an invitation to a Steelers game from Anthony Scaramucci. Not to forget that Bankman-Fried also joined Hillary Clinton, singer Katy Perry, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, actor Leonardo DiCaprio, and reality star Kendall Jenner to attend a private dinner thrown by Michael Kives, co-founder of K5 Global.

Bankman-Fried’s social standing rose sharply just as his trading company, Alameda Research, was about to run out of money.

In the third week of the trial, the prosecution presented evidence to show how FTX funds were allegedly used without the knowledge or consent of the customers, including emails, bank statements, wire transfers, and Bankman-Fried’s own notes.

These documents showed Bankman-Fried’s efforts to increase his clout among the elite through investments, political donations, and contributions.

Prosecutors used forensic accountants, including an FBI agent and University of Notre Dame professor Peter Easton, to support their case. Easton gave testimony about how he was able to link the spending to money from FTX customers.

These allegations were refuted by the defense, which cited contradictions on whether the costs were actually reimbursed by client cash and cast doubt on the veracity of expert opinions and accounting procedures.

Prosecutors claimed during the trial that FTX customer monies were used for investments. They displayed a section of the September 2022 investment contract between Alameda and Scaramucci’s SkyBridge Capital, the business he formed while serving as former President Donald Trump’s 10-day White House press secretary.

The agreement was reached two months before FTX declared bankruptcy. Prosecutors asserted that this deal provided more proof that investment expenditure persisted despite Alameda’s negative balance at the time.

In court, information from an investment agreement also surfaced that showed Bankman-Fried had agreed to invest in Knives’ K5.

The deal was deemed to be a deceptive ploy designed to enrich executives. To recoup the money Bankman-Fried had invested, K5 was sued by the bankruptcy attorneys for FTX.

To increase his political and social influence, the FTX founder made this $700 million commitment, one of his greatest gifts to any organization. Prosecutors also highlighted Bankman-Fried’s political donations received from Alameda.

The graph showed contributions to Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell’s nonprofit organization One Nation and Democratic political action committee Protect Our Future, which is predominantly supported by the former FTX millionaire.

Bankman-Fried was accused of using client money for political donations in an effort to sway Washington, DC, into adopting more crypto-friendly rules.

On day 12 of the trial, the prosecution contended that Bankman-Fried deceived internal counsel, transferred FTX customers’ money to Alameda, and made $2.2 billion in loans to himself and other executives.

Four days before the company filed for bankruptcy, Can Sun, the former head of legal at FTX, testified that Bankman-Fried requested him to come up with legal explanations for why $7 billion in customer funds went missing. Sun claimed that he informed Bankman-Fried that he was unable to think of any legal defenses.

Former CEO of Alameda and Bankman-Fried’s ex-girlfriend Caroline Ellison testified that Bankman-Fried had arranged for officials to siphon money from FTX clients for other uses, such as repaying Alameda for billions of dollars in loans.

According to Ellison, Bankman-Fried eventually made the decisions. The defense lawyers contend that Bankman-Fried attempted to develop and administer FTX in good faith and without any intent to deceive anyone.

The trial is still going on, therefore the verdict is still uncertain.

Many investors still have cash that are frozen as a result of FTX’s bankruptcy, and the issue is continually developing. It is questionable whether investors would be able to recover any of their losses, and it is also unclear how the bankruptcy will affect taxes.