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FTX Co-Founder Sam Bankman-Fried Pleads Not Guilty to Fraud Charges

The former crypto exchange CEO faces eight counts of money laundering and conspiracy to commit fraud.

David Lumb Mobile Reporter
David Lumb is a mobile reporter covering how on-the-go gadgets like phones, tablets and smartwatches change our lives. Over the last decade, he's reviewed phones for TechRadar as well as covered tech, gaming, and culture for Engadget, Popular Mechanics, NBC Asian America, Increment, Fast Company and others. As a true Californian, he lives for coffee, beaches and burritos.
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David Lumb
2 min read
Sam Bankman-Fried

Sam Bankman-Fried (center) departs from a court in New York on Dec. 22.

Stephanie Keith/Getty Images

The co-founder and former CEO of failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, has pleaded not guilty to fraud charges, according to CNBC.

Bankman-Fried appeared in a federal courtroom on Tuesday in New York City for his arraignment, where he faced eight fraud and conspiracy charges. The presiding judge has not set a trial date. Two of Bankman-Fried's associates already pleaded guilty to fraud charges and are said to be cooperating with investigators. 

Bankman-Fried was extradited from the Bahamas in December as US authorities continue investigating FTX's titanic collapse. Prosecutors say Bankman-Fried took people's money stored with the cryptocurrency exchange and fraudulently sent it to and from Alameda Research, his cryptocurrency hedge fund. In interviews with various media outlets, Bankman-Fried has denied any criminal wrongdoing or intent.

Samuel Raymond and Andrew Rohrbach have been named as prosecutors in Bankman-Fried's case, court documents show. Among other cases, Raymond handled the seizure of a painting looted by Nazi forces during World War II that was returned to its rightful owners in Ukraine. Rohrbach was one of the prosecutors leading the case against Jeffrey Epstein accomplice Ghislaine Maxwell, who was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

Judge Ronnie Abrams, originally slated to preside over the Bankman-Fried court proceedings, has recused herself after noting that her husband's law firm had advised FTX in 2021. The case has been reassigned to New York Southern District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan, who's taken high-profile cases involving organized crime and art fraud.

Separate from Bankman-Fried's case, the Department of Justice has launched a criminal investigation into $370 million that went missing just hours after FTX declared bankruptcy. The investigation will be led by the National Cryptocurrency Enforcement Team, which the DOJ launched last year to focus on cybercrime associated with cryptocurrency.