Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the founder of the collapsed crypto exchange FTX, has pleaded not guilty to the fraud crimes charged against him in a Tuesday court hearing in the United States.

Two weeks ago, the FTX founder was penalized in a New York court, where he was to bail himself with a $250 million bond.

SBF Pleads “Not Guilty”

Judge Lewis Kaplan, a senior judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, took charge of the court case.

SBF has eight charges filed against him. These include wire fraud and conspiracy charges. The FTX founder also faces charges over illegal financing of political campaigns. The fraud is believed to have wiped billions of dollars belonging to retail and institutional investors around the world.

All of these charges could land SBF in prison for up to 115 years if convicted.

With Bankman-Fried pleading not guilty, a trial is expected to come up in the future. The trial will allow prosecutors to show whether SBF is guilty of criminal charges against him. 

SBF’s latest move only buys him time as Judge Lewis Kaplan has now set his trial for October 2, 2023.

The latest plea by SBF is not surprising, though, as the Wall Street Journal had earlier reported that SBF might likely plead not guilty in a New York court.

Unlike the disgraced FTX founder, two top executives have pleaded guilty to multiple criminal charges against them. One of them is Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research. She pleaded guilty to fraud-related charges. The other is Gary Wang, the co-founder of the fallen FTX. He also pleaded guilty to similar criminal charges.

SBF’s Mischief Cripples Many

Despite SBF’s latest attempt to exonerate himself from criminal charges, reports show that the collapse of his companies have led to financial struggles among several institutions. 

An example is the lending firm BlockFi which reported $355 million stuck in FTX after filing for bankruptcy protection in late November 2022.

In a separate report, four individuals filed a lawsuit against FTX over deposited funds in the exchange. These individuals represented over one million FTX customers who were affected by the exchange’s collapse.

Meanwhile, the co-founder of the currently bankrupt hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC), Su Zhu, published a Twitter thread earlier today where he accused FTX and Digital Currency Group (DCG) of causing the downfall of his company.

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