The United States’ Department of Justice (DOJ) has pointed accusatory fingers at Sam Bankman-Fried for leaking former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison’s private diary.
The accusation arose following the publication of a New York Times article titled ‘Inside the Private Writings of Caroline Ellison, Star Witness in the FTX Case’ on 20 July. In the DOJ’s letter to Judge Lewis Kaplan, they described the NYT’s article as sharing “personal and raw” information about Ellison, including her romantic relationship with the defendant and professional insecurities.
While the article didn’t cite the source of its information, the DOJ has reason to believe that Sam Bankman-Fried is behind the revelation.
“The Article does not indicate who provided the documents to the Article’s authors. It is apparent that documents were shared by the defendant with the Article’s reporters.”
The DOJ went on to explain that by doing so, Sam Bankman-Fried had potentially “tainted the jury pool” and affected witness testimony.
“In addition to tainting the jury pool, the effect, if not the intent, of the defendant’s conduct is not only to harass Ellison, but also to deter other potential trial witnesses from testifying.”
They further accused him of attempting to discredit Ellison, who is expected to testify against him in the trial by portraying her negatively in the media and advancing his defense, suggesting she acted alone due to personal motives.
To address their concerns, the DOJ is now requesting an order to limit extrajudicial statements that could undermine a fair trial.
Following the implosion of FTX, Ellison pled guilty to two wire fraud counts and five conspiracy counts related to wire, securities, commodities fraud, and money laundering. She entered a plea agreement in December 2022, agreeing to cooperate with law enforcement.
SBF woes compound as FTX leadership files civil case
Yesterday, the leadership of FTX filed charges against SBF, Ellison, Gary Wang and Nishad Singh as it intensifies efforts to recover funds.
The case involves an action seeking damages for breaches of fiduciary duties and the recovery of unlawful transfers of funds misappropriated from the defendants. According to the filing, the defendants allegedly misused their control over the FTX Group, misappropriated funds for personal benefit, and operated without proper corporate formalities or governance controls.
The plaintiffs further accused the defendants of fraudulent transfer and are now seeking to recover the misappropriated funds and hold defendants accountable for their actions during the bankruptcy proceedings.
Under the leadership of new CEO John Ray, FTX has been actively working to recover and refund its customers. The company has made significant progress, having recently announced the recovery of $7.3billion in liquid assets as of 12 April.
There have also been hints of a possible relaunch by Q4 2023.
