FTX founder Bankman-Fried pleads 'not guilty' to 5 additional charges

By Ovunc Kutlu

ISTANBUL (AA) - FTX's founder and former CEO Samuel Bankman-Fried on Thursday pleaded 'not guilty' to five additional charges against him at a federal court in New York.

The disgraced former head of the cryptocurrency trade platform was charged Tuesday with conspiring to bribe one or more Chinese government officials to regain access to his hedge fund Alameda Research's trading accounts that had been frozen by Chinese authorities in November 2021.

The other four charges on Feb. 23 included conspiracy to commit wire fraud operating an unlicensed money transmitter, defrauding the Federal Election Commission, and making unlawful political contributions.

His attorney, Mark Cohen, said he plans to file a motion against the new charges, claiming that the former CEO cannot be tried on charges brought after his extradition from the Bahamas, according to news reports.

Amid the implosion of FTX, the former CEO initially had a total of eight charges against him, including conspiracy to commit money laundering and securities and commodities fraud, of which he had also pleaded not guilty in the US District Court in Manhattan.

Bankman-Fried, who turned 31 earlier this month, now faces a total of 13 charges involving the implosion of FTX, which was once the world's third-largest crypto trading platform by daily volume.

After pleading not guilty in December to eight initial charges in the US District Court Southern District of New York, he was released on $250 million bail to remain in confinement at his parents’ home in Palo Alto, California.