Disgraced former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried’s defense counsel argued that the crypto scammer is nothing more than a “math nerd who didn’t drink or party” and “didn’t steal from anyone.”
Bankman-Fried’s criminal trial began on Wednesday, and his legal team started a “charm offensive” that attempted to paint the FTX CEO as just some “math nerd.”
Defense counsel Mark Cohen described SBF as a “math nerd who didn’t drink or party.”
He charged that “Sam didn’t steal from anyone. There was no theft.”
Cohen continued:
“Rather, you will learn that Sam believed, reasonably believed, that loans that FTX made to Alameda were permitted and backed by reasonable security and collateral.”
The prosecution was focused on the alleged fraud SBF conducted and the customers harmed by the collapse of the digital exchange platform.
Thane Rehn, an assistant US attorney, said:
“One year ago it looked like SBF [Bankman-Fried] was on top of the world. He had wealth, power, and influence — all of it was built on lies.”
The prosecution said it would produce documents on how Bankman-Fried committed fraud.
Rehn said that Bankman-Fried could not delete “everything” regarding his conduct at the company.
The US attorney claimed that Bankman-Fried used his former girlfriend and former Alameda Research CEO as a “front” when he was actually calling the shots at Alameda.
SBF has been accused of seven counts of fraud, conspiracy, and money laundering on his alleged use of FTX customer funds to cover the massive losses of his hedge fund, Alameda Research.
He allegedly used those funds to cover personal expenses and purchase real estate.
Bankman-Fried pled not guilty to all counts and faces up to 110 years in prison if convicted.
The disgraced crypto scammer denied any “improper use of customer funds.”
Last week, reports emerged that Senate GOP Leader Mitch McConnell met with Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) and persuaded him to donate millions to his list of anti-Trump candidates.
Michael Lewis, author of The Big Short, told 60 Minutes that Sam Bankman-Fried met with McConnell ahead of the 2022 election and donated millions to support the GOP leader’s list of anti-Trump GOP senate candidates.
Lewis also alleges that Bankman-Fried considered paying Donald Trump not to run for re-election in 2020.
In an excerpt published in the Washington Post, Lewis wrote:
“On a separate front, he explained to me, as the plane descended into Washington, he was exploring the legality of paying Donald Trump himself not to run for president.”
“His team had somehow created a back channel into the Trump operation and returned with the not terribly Earth-shattering news that Donald Trump might indeed have his price: $5 billion. Or so Sam was told by his team.”
In July, The Daily Fetched reported that Federal prosecutors dropped a campaign finance charges on SBF due to a ‘procedural failing.’
SBF spent a staggering $40 million to fund the midterms with his Ponzi scheme.
Following the collapse of FTX last year, up to $2 billion has disappeared into a black hole.
SBF is Biden’s second biggest donor and funneled money through Ukraine, funding Democrats.
READ: Sam Bankman-Fried Wins Approval to Get ‘Uninterrupted Access’ to Adderall in Prison
