Chinese Bribes, Thai Prostitutes and an End to the Lies: Caroline Ellison's Explosive Second Day of

Source: Coindesk

Chinese Bribes, Thai Prostitutes and an End to the Lies: Caroline Ellison’s Explosive Second Day of Testimony Against Sam Bankman-Fried

The former Alameda Research CEO wept on the witness stand during her second day of testimony in Sam Bankman-Fried's fraud trial.

By Sam Kessler, Helene Braun, Nikhilesh De, Elizabeth Napolitano
Oct 11, 2023 at 9:42 a.m.
Updated Oct 12, 2023 at 11:02 a.m.

• Caroline Ellison, one of Sam Bankman-Fried’s top deputies and also his ex-girlfriend, testified Wednesday that she felt relieved when his crypto empire started to collapse because it meant she could stop lying.
• She noted the CoinDesk scoop that undid the company, saying the crypto news site’s scoop was based on a balance sheet Alameda sent to lenders to mislead them into thinking the trading firm was on more solid financial footing than it really was – though the numbers were ugly enough to spark the collapse.
• Ellison said Bankman-Fried instructed her to use FTX customer funds to repay Alameda’s lenders despite recognizing the risk.
• She disclosed an unrelated bribery incident with Chinese officials to retrieve locked funds, highlighting the trust Bankman-Fried had in her.

NEW YORK — Caroline Ellison wept on the witness stand near the end of her second day testifying against her former boss and ex-boyfriend, fallen cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman-Fried.

The diminutive and soft-spoken former CEO of Alameda Research described the unraveling last November of her hedge fund and its sister company, the FTX exchange, and the “relief” she felt as revelations about their fraud became public.

“I felt a sense of relief that I didn’t have to lie anymore,” Ellison testified.

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In the most salacious bit of testimony Wednesday, Ellison said she and a handful of FTX and Alameda executives “paid a large bribe to Chinese officials” to secure funds that had been locked on Chinese exchanges. ...

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Read more: https://www.coindesk.com/policy/2023/10/11/live-caroline-ellison-starts-day-2-of-testimony-against-sam-bankman-fried/