美国国家公共电台 NPR--Sam Bankman-Fried pleads not guilty to fraud and other charges tied to FTX's collapse

Sam Bankman-Fried pleads not guilty to fraud and other charges tied to FTX's collapse¹

Transcript²

Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced co-founder and former CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, pleaded not guilty to eight criminal charges at his arraignment³ on Tuesday.

Bankman-Fried flew from California to New York to enter his plea in person during a court hearing at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District in Lower Manhattan.

An attorney entered the not guilty plea on his behalf as Bankman-Fried's mother, a professor at Stanford Law School, sat two rows behind him with other family and friends at the packed courtroom. His trial is set to start on Oct. 2.

The once high-flying crypto executive is facing up to 115 years in prison over charges stemming from the spectacular collapse of FTX in November. The charges include lying to investors⁴ and taking billions of dollars of his customers' money for his own personal use.

Since Dec. 22, he has been living with his parents in Northern California after posting a bail⁵ of $250 million.

Criminal law experts had expected Bankman-Fried to plead not guilty.

"It is common for defendants⁶ to do this," said Christine Chung, a professor at Albany Law School. "A not guilty plea generally opens the door to the discovery process, which would give Sam Bankman-Fried a better idea of the evidence that the government has collected thus far in its investigation⁷."

Attorney Mark Cohen, who represents Bankman-Fried, did not immediately respond to a request for comment, and neither did a spokesman.

Two top execs are cooperating with prosecutors⁸

FTX, which was one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, imploded⁹ in November amid questions about the soundness of its financials and its relationship to Alameda Research, a crypto hedge fund Bankman-Fried also founded.

Today, more than one million creditors¹⁰, including FTX customers, are trying to recover money that may be gone for good.

Bankman-Fried's not guilty plea puts him at odds¹¹ with two top executives at the companies he was involved with.

Gary Wang, who co-founded FTX, and Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research, both pleaded guilty to fraud charges and are cooperating with prosecutors.

Prosecutors allege¹² the hedge fund was using money from FTX customers to pay debts, place speculative¹³ bets, and invest in other companies.

Wang and Ellison also pleaded guilty to charges from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures¹⁴ Trading Commission. The SEC says they are also cooperating with its investigation.

No incentive¹⁵ to plead guilty

According to James Park, a securities fraud expert at UCA Law, Bankman-Fried didn't have many options going into Tuesday's hearing, because of Wang's and Ellison's plea deals.

"Sam Bankman-Fried was probably not offered a deal because he is likely the main instigator¹⁶ of the fraud, and there is no one higher up that he can testify against," Park said. "He thus had no incentive to plead guilty, and will attempt to leverage¹⁷ his ability to take the case to trial to get a more favorable sentence than is being offered at the start of the case."

Bankman-Fried was arrested last month in the Bahamas, where FTX is headquartered, at the request of the United States government. He initially¹⁸ said he would fight extradition¹⁹, but after several days in a correctional facility in Nassau, Bankman-Fried changed tack²⁰.

On Dec. 21, the Bahamas approved and extradition request from the U.S., and Bankman-Fried was placed in FBI custody²¹.

1 collapse   

vi.累倒；昏倒；倒塌；塌陷

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• The engineer made a complete diagnosis of the bridge's collapse.工程师对桥的倒塌做了一次彻底的调查分析。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 arraignment   

n.提问，传讯，责难

参考例句：

• She was remanded to juvenile detention at her arraignment yesterday. 她昨天被送回了对少年拘留在她的传讯。 来自互联网
• Wyatt asks the desk clerk which courthouse he is being transferred to for arraignment. 他向接待警员询问了马宏将在哪个法庭接受传讯。 来自互联网

4 investors   

n.投资者，出资者( investor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a con man who bilked investors out of millions of dollars 诈取投资者几百万元的骗子
• a cash bonanza for investors 投资者的赚钱机会

5 bail   

v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人

参考例句：

• One of the prisoner's friends offered to bail him out.犯人的一个朋友答应保释他出来。
• She has been granted conditional bail.她被准予有条件保释。

6 defendants   

被告( defendant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The courts heard that the six defendants had been coerced into making a confession. 法官审判时发现6位被告人曾被迫承认罪行。
• As in courts, the defendants are represented by legal counsel. 与法院相同，被告有辩护律师作为代表。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

7 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

8 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

9 imploded   

v.（使）向心聚爆( implode的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The economies of Brazil and Russia imploded in 1998. 巴西与俄罗斯的经济在1998年宣告破裂。 来自互联网
• A startling number of his nominees for senior positions have imploded. 他所提名的高级官员被否决的数目令人震惊。 来自互联网

10 creditors   

n.债权人，债主( creditor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They agreed to repay their creditors over a period of three years. 他们同意3年内向债主还清欠款。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Creditors could obtain a writ for the arrest of their debtors. 债权人可以获得逮捕债务人的令状。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 odds   

n.让步，机率，可能性，比率；胜败优劣之别

参考例句：

• The odds are 5 to 1 that she will win.她获胜的机会是五比一。
• Do you know the odds of winning the lottery once?你知道赢得一次彩票的几率多大吗？

12 allege   

vt.宣称，申述，主张，断言

参考例句：

• The newspaper reporters allege that the man was murdered but they have given no proof.新闻记者们宣称这个男人是被谋杀的，但他们没提出证据。
• Students occasionally allege illness as the reason for absence.学生时不时会称病缺课。

13 speculative   

adj.思索性的，暝想性的，推理的

参考例句：

• Much of our information is speculative.我们的许多信息是带推测性的。
• The report is highly speculative and should be ignored.那个报道推测的成分很大，不应理会。

14 futures   

n.期货，期货交易

参考例句：

• He continued his operations in cotton futures.他继续进行棉花期货交易。
• Cotton futures are selling at high prices.棉花期货交易的卖价是很高的。

15 incentive   

n.刺激；动力；鼓励；诱因；动机

参考例句：

• Money is still a major incentive in most occupations.在许多职业中，钱仍是主要的鼓励因素。
• He hasn't much incentive to work hard.他没有努力工作的动机。

16 instigator   

n.煽动者

参考例句：

• It is not a and differs from instigator in nature. 在刑法理论中，通常将教唆犯作为共犯的一种类型加以探究。 来自互联网
• If we are really the instigator, we are awaiting punishment. 如果我们真的是煽动者，那我们愿意接受惩罚。 来自互联网

17 leverage   

n.力量，影响；杠杆作用，杠杆的力量

参考例句：

• We'll have to use leverage to move this huge rock.我们不得不借助杠杆之力来移动这块巨石。
• He failed in the project because he could gain no leverage. 因为他没有影响力，他的计划失败了。

18 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

19 extradition   

n.引渡（逃犯）

参考例句：

• The smuggler is in prison tonight,awaiting extradition to Britain.这名走私犯今晚在监狱，等待引渡到英国。
• He began to trouble concerning the extradition laws.他开始费尽心思地去想关于引渡法的问题。

20 tack   

n.大头钉；假缝，粗缝

参考例句：

• He is hammering a tack into the wall to hang a picture.他正往墙上钉一枚平头钉用来挂画。
• We are going to tack the map on the wall.我们打算把这张地图钉在墙上。

21 custody   

n.监护，照看，羁押，拘留

参考例句：

• He spent a week in custody on remand awaiting sentence.等候判决期间他被还押候审一个星期。
• He was taken into custody immediately after the robbery.抢劫案发生后，他立即被押了起来。