Sam Bankman-Fried takes the stand to testify — but the judge wants to know what he's going to say before he allows a jury to hear it
Chelsea Jia Feng/Insider
- Sam Bankman-Fried took the witness stand on Thursday after days of testimony from his inner circle.
- The FTX cofounder is facing seven charges of fraud over the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange.
- Bankman-Fried's testimony could be a last-ditch effort for his defense, but it could also be risky.
Sam Bankman-Fried took the witness stand Thursday to testify in his own defense in the criminal trial involving FTX's collapse on Thursday.
The jury was dismissed before the FTX cofounder began his testimony. Judge Lewis Kaplan said some of Bankman-Fried's testimony would occur without the jury present so that he could decide whether it could be used as evidence, Reuters reported.
Ahead of the defense calling Bankman-Fried as a witness, the FTX cofounder's attorneys appeared to go back and forth on whether they would have their client take the witness stand. But, defense attorney Mark Cohen told the judge on Wednesday that Bankman-Fried would speak in his own defense, as one of a handful of potential witnesses.
Federal prosecutors had called their final witness earlier on Thursday. During the trial, the jury heard from several former executives at FTX and the cryptocurrency exchange's sister company Alameda Research, including FTX cofounder Gary Wang and former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison.
Federal prosecutors have argued that Bankman-Fried defrauded FTX customers and investors out of billions of dollars. Wang testified earlier this month that he knew what FTX had done was wrong and Ellison said during her dayslong testimony that she'd worked with Bankman-Fried to take FTX customers' money and use it for Alameda investments.
The FTX cofounder is facing seven criminal charges and has pleaded not guilty on all counts. Leading up to his testimony, Bankman-Fried has argued that the executives who took over FTX after it went bankrupt misunderstood his intentions. He has also attempted to lay the blame for FTX's demise on former executives at his companies.
Bankman-Fried's testimony could be a last-ditch effort for the defense after witnesses from his close personal circle testified that the FTX cofounder knowingly commingled fund from FTX customers with Alameda Research's investments.
Bankman-Fried's testimony could also pose significant risks for him as it will open him up for cross-examination from prosecutors and a judge could lengthen his sentence if he is caught telling any lies on the stand.