On October 4, Eastern Time in the United States, the opening debate of the criminal fraud case against FTX founder SBF was launched. The prosecutor and the defense had a fierce confrontation: The prosecutor first accused SBF of setting up a shocking scam. The huge FTX cryptocurrency empire is a pile of lies. It became a "house of cards"; the defense lawyer emphasized that SBF acted properly and "did not deceive anyone", and placed part of the blame on the former CEO of Alameda and ex-girlfriend Caroline Ellison, saying that she failed to set up appropriate protection measure.

Prosecutor: SBF is rich, powerful and influential, but it was all made up of lies

During the opening argument, U.S. Assistant Attorney Nathan Rehn said that the FTX cryptocurrency empire built by SBF was a "house of cards" made of lies, accusing SBF of using FTX to pursue its own selfish interests and expand its influence. A massive fraud that misappropriated as much as $10 billion of client funds to buy luxury homes, fund Alameda Research, and donate to U.S. political campaigns and charities.

Nathan Rehn bluntly stated in court that SBF was a fraudster who carefully planned his operations. "He lied to the world." Until FTX went bankrupt, he had been using the funds deposited by customers as personal bank accounts. And only a few close friends knew about it.

Nathan Rehn told the jury:

He (SBF) has wealth, power and influence, but it is all made up of lies. He set up a huge scam and defrauded billions of dollars, with countless victims.

Interestingly, when Nathan Rehnn emphasized the words "billion-dollar fraud," some media noticed that the originally expressionless SBF glanced at the jury quickly, and then turned around and stared at the computer screen. .

Defense: SBF is just a nerd who is proficient in mathematics. He behaves properly and does not deceive anyone.

SBF's defense lawyer Mark Cohen countered that the prosecutor described SBF in court as a "big villain", but in fact he was just a nerd who was proficient in mathematics. He also pointed out that the prosecutor "taken the words out of context" and that SBF was not a young person, but "A very hard-working person," his company was growing rapidly and he had to make hundreds of decisions every day.

The defense pointed out that SBF acted properly and had no intention of defrauding from beginning to end. Even if it made some mistakes, "serving as the CEO of a company that failed due to bankruptcy" is not a crime. Mark Cohen said: "There is no CEO in the world, and Sam is certainly no exception, who can be everywhere and do everything."

Mark Cohen acknowledged in his opening statement that FTX did lend money to Alameda, but said SBF, as an MIT graduate, had "reason to believe" that the loans were allowed and backed by collateral.

In addition, the defense also attacked the prosecution's key witnesses - Caroline Ellison, Gary Wang and Nishad Singh, claiming that they testified under a cooperation agreement and did not take adequate risk precautions when working at FTX and Alameda Research measure.

SBF is accused of committing what could be described as the largest financial fraud in history. The cryptocurrency company he founded, FTX, and sister company Alameda collapsed last November as customers scrambled to withdraw their funds, exposing an $8 billion gap in the companies' balance sheets. If convicted, he could face decades in prison.

This article SBF fraud trial: the prosecutor angrily criticized "lied the whole world", the defense lamented "he is just a nerd" first appeared on Blockchain.