NEW YORK (AP) โ Jury selection began Tuesday in the fraud trial of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, after a prosecutor revealed there were no discussions about a possible plea deal in the 10 months since that the cryptocurrency executive was arrested and taken to the United States. State.
The 31-year-old cryptocurrency magnate, who was once a billionaire, faces the possibility of a lengthy prison sentence if convicted in a trial expected to last up to six weeks.
Prosecutors say he defrauded thousands of people who deposited cryptocurrency on the FTX exchange by illegally diverting huge sums of their money for his personal use, including making risky trades in his cryptocurrency hedge fund, Alameda Research. He is also accused of using clients' money to buy real estate and make large political contributions while trying to influence government regulation of cryptocurrencies.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams, who is overseeing the prosecution, has called it one of the biggest frauds in the country's history.
Before about 50 potential jurors were brought into a Manhattan courtroom, Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicolas Roos said the government posed the question "from the beginning" to Bankman-Fried's lawyers about whether they should be held. negotiations aimed at resolving the case with a guilty plea.
"There were no discussions about a plea and the government never made any plea offer," he said.
In interviews and social media posts, Bankman-Fried acknowledged making big mistakes running FTX, but insisted he had no criminal intent.
He has blamed FTX's collapse last November, in something tantamount to an old-fashioned bank run, on vindictive competitors, his own inattention and fellow executives who he says failed to manage the risk properly.
"I didn't steal funds, and I certainly didn't hide billions," he said in a post earlier this year on the online platform Substack.
Early last fall, Bankman-Fried presented herself as a stabilizing force in the cryptocurrency industry. He spent millions of dollars on celebrity ads during the 2022 Super Bowl that promoted FTX as the โsafest, easiest way to buy and sell cryptocurrencyโ and โthe most trusted way to buy and sellโ digital assets.
Comedian Larry David, along with other celebrities such as football star Tom Brady and basketball star Stephen Curry, have been named in a lawsuit that argues their celebrity status made them guilty of promoting the company's failed business model. .
Bankman-Fried is charged with wire fraud and conspiracy. The trial is expected to conclude before Thanksgiving.
He agreed to be extradited to the United States after his arrest in the Bahamas last December. That was weeks after FTX collapsed as customers withdrew deposits en masse amid reports questioning its financial arrangements.
While his plane to the United States was in the air, authorities announced that two of his top executives had secretly pleaded guilty to fraud charges and were prepared to testify against him. They were Bankman-Fried's ex-girlfriend Carolyn Ellison, who had been CEO of Alameda Research, and Gary Wang, co-founder of FTX.
Initially released on a $250 million personal recognizance bond, Bankman-Fried was confined to his parents' home in Palo Alto, California, until Judge Lewis A. Kaplan ordered him jailed last month after concluding that he had tried to influence witnesses, including Ellison and an FTX general counsel.
His attorneys appealed that decision and repeatedly said their client cannot adequately prepare for trial. But the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit rejected an appeal of the detention order, saying the judge had carefully considered all relevant factors and that the defense's arguments were unpersuasive.
On Tuesday, before jury selection began, the judge told Bankman-Fried that she will be given the opportunity to testify during the trial, even if her attorneys advise against it.
โThey can't make the decision for you. โIt is your decision,โ the judge said.
