A Saudi Prince, Chinese Government Officials, and Thai Prostitutes: Former Alameda Research CEO’s Damning Testimony Continues against Sam Bankman-Fried
Caroline Ellison, former Alameda Research CEO and ex-girlfriend of disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, stunned the jury today in Manhattan Federal Court when she revealed startling claims involving Alameda Research’s ties to international government officials.
Taking the stand for the first time yesterday, Ellison admitted to falsifying a number of balance sheets to make investing in the crypto hedge fund seem “less risky than it was and to hide the fact we were borrowing tens of billions of dollars from FTX customers.”
Testifying under a cooperation agreement with the US government, Ellison appeared to be remorseful, calling her actions “wrong.”
Moreover, the former Alameda CEO said that she had been left in “a constant of dread” in the lead-up to FTX’s collapse. By 2022, Alameda Research’s total assets, which were mostly illiquid, totaled $21 billion, while their liabilities were estimated at over $14 billion.
Ellison testified that she and Bankman-Fried predicted and analyzed a number of “bad market scenarios” that could tank their crypto empire.
At one point, Ellison calculated there was 100% probability they would not be able to repay their loans should the crypto market experience a downturn while they attempted large venture investments. Nonetheless, Bankman-Fried charged on, instructing Ellison to repay their loans using customers’ funds on FTX.
“Every day, I was worrying about the possibility of customer withdrawals and worried about this getting as well as who it would it hurt,” she stated.
With little remaining sources of capital left, Ellison recalled Bankman-Fried attempting to raise funds for his company by selling shares to the Crown Prince of Saudia Arabia, Mohammed bin Salman Al Saud. However, these
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