- Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research, and FTX cofounder Gary Wang have pleaded guilty to fraud.
- Both have also agreed to cooperate with the prosecutors, the US attorney for the Southern District of New York said.
Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research, and FTX cofounder Gary Wang have pleaded guilty to fraud, Damian Williams, the US attorney for the Southern District of New York said Wednesday.
Ellison and Wang have also agreed to cooperate with the prosecutors, Williams added in a statement.
—US Attorney SDNY (@SDNYnews) December 22, 2022
The Securities and Exchange Commission has charged Ellison and Wang with "a multiyear scheme to defraud equity investors in FTX," the regulator said in a press release on Wednesday. The SEC alleged Ellison — at the direction of FTX cofounder Sam Bankman-Fried — manipulated the price of FTT, a token native to FTX. The Commodity Futures Trading Commission also charged Ellison and Wang with fraud, it said in a statement on Wednesday.
Bankman-Fried was in FBI custody and "on his way back to the United States" where he will appear in court "as soon as possible," Williams added in his Wednesday statement. The former FTX CEO landed in the US late on Wednesday.
"Let me reiterate a call that I made last week. If you participated in misconduct at FTX or Alameda, now is the time to get ahead of it. We are moving quickly, and our patience is not eternal," said Williams.
Bankman-Fried resigned as the CEO of FTX on November 11, the same day the troubled exchange filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, as it failed to secure a rescue following an intense week-long liquidity squeeze.
Bankman-Fried had been on a media apology tour since FTX's collapse but told the New York Times in late November that he didn't think he's legally accountable.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.