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Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX, has pleaded not guilty to fraud charges.
He is accused of diverting billions of dollars in client monies to offset Alameda Research's losses. A federal prosecutor dubbed it "a swindle of colossal proportions".
Bankman-Fried claims he was unaware that customer funds were being misappropriated, but two of his senior officials have pled guilty and could testify against him. Bankman-Fried, regarded as the public face of the cryptocurrency business, was indicted last month on two counts of wire fraud and six counts of conspiracy-related offenses for his role in what one federal prosecutor described as “a fraud of epic proportions.”
The judge set a trial date for October 2.