Sam Bankman-Fried’s ex-girlfriend Caroline Ellison confronted the disgraced crypto titan in court Tuesday — matter-of-factly telling jurors that he bears the blame for deciding to steal billions in FTX customer funds.
“He directed me to commit these crimes,” Ellison said in Manhattan federal court, during her highly-anticipated testimony at a trial where Bankman-Fried faces criminal fraud charges stemming from the November 2022 disappearance of $8 billion from his now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange.
Ellison, 28, also set the record straight on why her on-and-off-romance with the fallen crypto king, 31, ended — accusing him of being emotionally distant and never devoting enough attention to their relationship during their time living together inside a $35 million Bahamas penthouse.
“There was a general theme that I kind of wanted more from our relationship,” Ellison told jurors. “I kind of felt like he was distant or not listening to me.”
The previous CEO of Alameda Research and Bankman-Fried’s ex-girlfriend is now serving as prosecutors’ star witness.REUTERS
The Stanford-educated math whiz disclosed that the pair first slept together in the autumn of 2018, and went on thus far for a couple of 12 months, from summer 2020 to summer 2021.
In the course of the entirely of the connection, Bankman-Fried “was also my boss at work, which created some awkward situations,” Ellison testified.
Bankman-Fried — who was susceptible to crunching the numbers on every aspect of his life — bizarrely boasted while they were dating that there was a “five percent likelihood that he’d develop into president some day,” Ellison told the court.
Caroline Ellison leaves the Manhattan federal court on Tuesday.AP
The Stanford-educated math whiz disclosed that the pair first slept together in the autumn of 2018, and went on thus far for a couple of 12 months, from summer 2020 to summer 2021.ZUMAPRESS.com
Wearing thin rectangular glasses, a mauve dress and a gray blazer, Ellison didn’t make eye contact along with her former flame as she entered the packed federal courtroom in lower Manhattan just before 1 p.m.ZUMAPRESS.com
“President of what?” asked federal prosecutor Danielle Sassoon.
“The USA,” answered Ellison.
Wearing thin rectangular glasses, a mauve dress and a gray blazer, Ellison didn’t make eye contact along with her former flame as she entered the packed federal courtroom in lower Manhattan just before 1 p.m.
When Sassoon asked her how she knew the previous crypto golden boy, Ellison said that they “dated for a few years,” later specifying that the connection unfolded on and off between the summer of 2020 and spring of 2022.
Ellison was then asked whether she committed crimes because the CEO of Bankman-Fried’s crypto hedge fund Alameda – which the feds say stole $8 billion of FTX users’ deposits to repay lenders.
Ellison leaves the courthouse after testifying on Tuesday.AP
“Yes,” said Ellison, who has pleaded guilty to her role within the scheme and is testifying within the hopes of receiving a more lenient sentence.
Sassoon asked Ellison to explain Bankman-Fried’s involvement within the alleged scheme.
“He was originally the CEO of Alameda, and after, the owner of Alameda, and he directed me to commit these crimes,” said Ellison, who spoke slowly and clearly during most of her testimony.
Despite their whirlwind romance, Ellison testified that Bankman-Fried didn’t increase her $200,000 base salary after appointing her to run Alameda as co-chief executive in October 2021 — while the pair were on a “break,” Ellison said.
Ellison did receive a bonus price $20 million while heading the fund, she testified. But that sum, though staggering, is way lower than what Bankman-Fried paid himself and FTX co-founder Gary Wang in the course of the same time period.
Caroline Ellison said her relationship with Sam Bankman-Fried ended because he didn’t devote enough attention to her.Brigitte Stelzer
Bankman-Fried also denied Ellison’s request to own a portion of Alameda even after she took over as sole CEO, and continued calling the shots within the fund’s big decisions — including to make use of FTX customer funds without disclosing it, she testified.
“I handled each day decisions, but for any major decisions, I might all the time run it by Sam,” Ellison said.
Ellison first had a little bit of trouble identifying Bankman-Fried – who has shed his signature outfit of a T-shirt and cargo shorts for a suit and his unruly hairstyle for a recent, shorter hairdo.
But after standing up from the witness chair and looking out around for a full minute, she finally picked out her ex-beau sitting together with his lawyers on the defense table.
“He’s over there, wearing a suit,” she said, gesturing at her former lover along with her hand.
Barbara Fried and Joseph Bankman, parents of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried exit the Manhattan federal court on Tuesday.AP
Bankman-Fried and Ellison lived along with other roommates in a $35 million Bahamas penthouse.DOJ
Ellison walked right by Bankman-Fried to go away the courtroom for a lunch break and at the top of the day Tuesday.
Each times, Bankman-Fried stared straight ahead and didn’t make eye contact along with her.
Ellison is just the newest former FTX insider to testify against Bankman-Fried.
Ellison has pleaded guilty to fraud and is testifying in hopes of receiving a more lenient sentence.Alameda Research
Wang – who has also pleaded guilty on fraud charges and is cooperating with the feds – has already testified that Bankman-Fried directed him to put in writing computer code allowing Alameda to withdraw “unlimited” FTX user funds, with consumers left at the hours of darkness.
Adam Yedidia, a former FTX developer, told jurors that he resigned from the corporate — days after texting his former boss, “I like you, Sam” — when he discovered that the firm repaid its creditors using customer deposits.
“What Alameda did gave the impression of a flagrantly fallacious thing to have done,” Yedidia testified.
Ellison is predicted to resume her testimony Wednesday morning.
