A prosecutor told a New York jury on Wednesday to follow overwhelming evidence and the “pyramid of deceit” that FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried constructed to conclude he is guilty of defrauding his customers and investors of at least 10 billion dollars (£8.2 billion).
Assistant US attorney Nicolas Roos began a day of closing arguments in Manhattan federal court by saying Bankman-Fried was at fault for stealing billions of dollars from investors worldwide, despite four days of evidence in which Bankman-Fried said he was unaware that his customers’ deposits were at risk until weeks before his companies collapsed.
“He told a story and he lied to you,” Mr Roos told jurors just a day after Bankman-Fried concluded his evidence at the month-long trial.
The prosecutor said Bankman-Fried wanted jurors to believe that he had no idea what was happening at his companies or that what was happening was wrong.
But his words conflicted with the testimony of his fellow executives, his “partners in crime”, and other evidence including financial documents and public statements that Bankman-Fried had made.
Bankman-Fried, 31, was arrested last December, a month after the collapse of FTX, the cryptocurrency exchange platform he opened in 2019, and Alameda Research, the cryptocurrency hedge fund he started in 2017.
Extradited from the Bahamas to New York, he was released on bail with electronic monitoring to ensure he remained at his parents’ home in Palo Alto, California, until August, when Judge Lewis A. Kaplan jailed Bankman-Fried after concluding that he had tried to influence prospective trial witnesses.
Mr Roos said the arrest of Bankman-Fried came weeks after thousands of FTX customers worldwide were overcome with anxiety, dread and ultimately despair when they tried to withdraw “investments, savings and nest eggs for the future” from their accounts only to learn that “their money was gone. FTX was bankrupt”.
“Who was responsible?” Mr Roos asked, only to quickly point to Bankman-Fried, sitting between his lawyers.
“This man, Samuel Bankman-Fried. What happened? He spent his customers’ money and he lied to them about it.”
The prosecutor said Bankman-Fried spent the money on property, donations, promotions, investments and political contributions.
“This was a pyramid of deceit built by the defendant on a foundation of lies and false promises, all to get money, and eventually it collapsed, leaving countless victims in its wake,” he said.
Mr Roos told jurors that if they believe even one of the four former executives who gave evidence against him, they must convict Bankman-Fried.
All four said the money from customers was stolen at the direction of Bankman-Fried.
Bankman-Fried, who has pleaded not guilty to all charges, said when he gave evidence that he was unaware that billions of dollars of customers’ money was being spent or that he had any criminal intent.
Mark Cohen, Bankman-Fried’s lawyer, urged jurors to review his client’s evidence to see the truth and find that he did not have the mindset to commit crimes as he tried to save his businesses.
He said none of Bankman-Fried’s former executives gave evidence that he told them to steal money or commit crimes.
He criticised prosecutors, saying they displayed unflattering pictures of Bankman-Fried’s casual wardrobe and messy hair, including when he slept on a private jet, and spoke of his multimillion pound apartment and his enthusiasm to meet celebrities to portray him as “some sort of villain, some sort of monster”.
“Hope you’ve seen it’s simply not true,” Mr Cohen said.
“Sam’s appearance has nothing to do with how the FTX exchange worked. His appearance and romantic relationships have nothing to do with whether he’s guilty of the counts in the indictment.”
The lawyer added of a defendant who now has short hair and wears a suit each day: “We’ll agree that there was a time that Sam probably was the worst dressed CEO in the world and probably had the worst haircut.”
The jury was expected to begin deliberations on Thursday.
