FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has reportedly pleaded not guilty to charges alleging he defrauded customers.
Bankman-Fried entered his plea in Manhattan federal court where he faces eight criminal counts, including wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy, according to a report from Reuters.
He is accused of looting FTX customers’ deposits to support his Alameda Research hedge fund, buy real estate and donate millions of dollars to political causes.
The prosecutors have described the case as an ‘epic’ fraud.
At the hearing, federal prosecutor Danielle Sassoon suggested the government has a deep well of evidence against Bankman-Fried, saying prosecutors will turn over hundreds of thousands of documents in coming weeks.
The trial date has been set for October 2nd and could last four weeks.
Two of the former top associates of Bankman-Fried, former Alameda chief executive Caroline Ellison and former FTX chief technology officer Gary Wang, have already pleaded guilty.
Bankman-Fried could face up to 115 years in prison if convicted.
In other cryptocurrency exchange news, Genesis recently secured $140m in an equity infusion from its parent company Digital Currency Group. The funds were supplied after Genesis announced its derivatives business has $175m locked in a trading account of FTX.
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