Gary Wang, co-founder of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has accused Sam Bankman-Fried, another co-founder, of committing financial crimes on Thursday.
Wang, the fourth witness summoned by the U.S. Department of Justice in Bankman-Fried’s trial, alleged that he, along with Bankman-Fried, Caroline Ellison, and Nishad Singh, were involved in wire fraud, securities fraud, and commodities fraud.
Ellison managed Bankman-Fried’s Alameda Research hedge fund, while Singh is a former FTX executive. Wang, Ellison, and Singh have all pled guilty to charges shortly after Bankman-Fried’s arrest.
“We gave special privileges to Alameda Research to allow it to withdraw unlimited funds from FTX and lied about it,” Wang stated in court.
Bankman-Fried is currently facing fraud and conspiracy charges following the collapse of his crypto venture. Prosecutors have characterized his business as a “house of cards”.
A software error at FTX reportedly inflated the amount its sister company, Alameda, owed to exchange’s customers by $8 billion. This was confirmed by another witness, a former FTX developer Adam Yedidia, who has been granted immunity.
Yedidia disclosed that he quit FTX after learning that Alameda used customer deposits to repay its creditors.
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