In a recent report, the former CEO of the collapsed FTX exchange, Sam Bankman-Fried, has pleaded not guilty to a fresh indictment presented against him in a recent hearing in Manhattan Federal Court. In the report, SBF also complained about the food condition in the MDC Brooklyn prison, where he is remanded, claiming his vegan diet and medication provisions were dishonored entirely.
According to the report, in what seemed to be the first appearance for Bankman-Fried after his bail was revoked for interfering with witnesses and was remanded, SBF appeared in a Manhattan federal court where he faced fresh indictments. However, he reportedly denied them all, pleading not guilty.
Furthermore, the report revealed that during the recent hearing in Manhattan court, Sam Bankman-Fried was once again blamed and accused of several counts of fraud and conspiracy allegations that presented him as the culprit responsible for the collapse of the FTX exchange and the massive loss of investors funds which occurred in November last year. However, Sam again denied all the new allegations just as he denied the previous ones.
In addition, the report showed that the United States prosecutors had initially charged him in court for stealing billions of dollars of customers’ funds and pulling off a massive scam scheme. But, Sam only admitted that FTX exchange’s failure was due to inadequate risk management, claiming that the incident had nothing to do with him looting customers’ money.
SBF Denies New Allegations Charged Against Him
Notably, the report showed that in the new Indictment, the prosecutors did not accuse SBF of conspiracy to breach US Campaign finance regulations, an allegation in the former indictment presented in court. This is because the Bahamas government rejected the additional allegation as it was not part of the charges the country agreed to during Sam Bankman-Fried’s extradition from the Bahamas.
Regardless of the disapproval, the United States prosecution department is still determined to prove somehow that Sam Bankman-Fried donated about $100 million of customer funds to fund US political parties’ campaigns and have him tried for that crime. This is because the department believed the allegation was at the heart of his fraudulent scheme.
In January, Sam pleaded not guilty to the prosecutors’ allegations, and now, he is emphasizing again that he is not guilty. However, other executives charged alongside him have all reportedly succumbed to the feds, pleading guilty to their various charges, unlike Sam Bankman-Fried, who kept stuck to his gun.
Caroline Ellison, SBF’s former lover and former CEO of Alameda Research, as well as Gary Wang, FTX’s ex-executive, both started cooperating with the prosecutors and investigators on the case in November last year. The two admitted that they played a significant part in the collapse of the FTX exchange and agreed to testify against SBF in his upcoming trial in exchange for a guilty plea deal.
SBF Faces Difficult Times In MDC Brooklyn Prison
Meanwhile, Sam Bankman-Fried is reportedly having a rough time in detention currently. He was recently remanded in a New York City prison facility, MDC Brooklyn, after the Department of Justice accused him of interfering with witnesses, causing the court to revoke his bail.
MDC Brooklyn, according to reports, is one of the worst jails in New York that is plagued with violence, corruption, and contaminated water and food. In addition, the Bureau of Prisons recently stated in a press release that the prison management is keeping all food and medication requirements of SBF, serving him nutritional meals.
However, SBF’s counselor claimed that the food requirements of his client were dishonored by the management team of the prison as they served him bread and water, disregarding the vegan diet he requested. Also, his lawyer claimed that the jail denies SBF the medication to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, while his depression medication is insufficient.
Conclusively, the attorney argued that the poor administration of food and medication faced in prison could potentially impact Sam’s ability to prepare for his trial in October adequately. Meanwhile, the report revealed that SBF could be jailed for about 115 years if he is found guilty of all the charges.
