Sam Bankman-Fried’s Ex-Girlfriend Testifies that FTX Founder 'Directed' Her to Commit Crimes
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Caroline Ellison testified that ex-boyfriend Sam Bankman-Fried thought he had a 5% chance of one day becoming the president of the United States
Yuki Iwamura/Bloomberg via Getty Images; AP Photo/Eduardo Munoz Alvarez
Sam Bankman-Fried (L); Caroline Ellison (R)The ex-girlfriend of Sam Bankman-Fried who served as the former CEO of his hedge fund testified that the disgraced crypto mogul “directed” her to commit fraud, according to multiple reports.
Caroline Ellison, who started as a trader at the crypto hedge fund Alameda Research in 2018, testified in a Manhattan courtroom on Tuesday, according to NBC News.
“Sam directed me to commit these crimes,” she said in her testimony, alleging that Bankman-Fried asked her to funnel money from his customers at now-defunct crypto exchange FTX into Alameda in order to pay back firms that Alameda Research had borrowed from, the outlet reports.
“We ultimately took around $14 billion, some of which we were able to pay back,” she said, according to CNBC. “I sent balance sheets to lenders at the direction of Sam that incorrectly stated Alameda’s assets and liabilities.”
She also alleged that Bankman-Fried designed a way for her to transfer the funds, CNBC and NBC News report. She said he was “very ambitious” and that he thought he had a 5% chance of someday becoming the president of the United States, according to the Associated Press.
Ellison detailed the “on and off” romantic relationship she had with Bankman-Fried that began after she joined Alameda and lasted until 2022, when they permanently broke up, according to the Associated Press.
The two initially “started sleeping together on and off,” she said, which eventually led to a relationship that they kept secret. They broke up in summer 2021, and got back together by the fall of the same year, she testified, according to the outlet. She received a $20 million bonus that same year.
Related: Jury Selection Begins Today in Fraud Trial of FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried
Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX, was arrested on Dec. 12 in Nassau, Bahamas, where the company was based. State and federal authorities launched an investigation into him when he sought bankruptcy protection after amassing billions of dollars worth of losses, PEOPLE reported previously.
US Attorney Damian Williams, who heads the federal prosecutors' office in Manhattan that charged Bankman-Fried, called the case "one of the biggest financial frauds in American history."
"From 2019 until earlier this year, Bankman-Fried and his co-conspirators stole billions of dollars from FTX customers," Williams told reporters in December. "He used that money for his personal benefit, including to make personal investments and to cover expenses and debts of his hedge fund, Alameda Research."
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Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to all seven charges that include wire fraud, securities fraud and money laundering, according to NBC. Ellison has pleaded guilty to charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering among other charges.
If convicted, Bankman-Fried could spend the rest of his life in jail.
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