Former FTX executive jailed for role in ‘biggest financial scam of all time’

A former high government of fraudulent cryptocurrency empire FTX has been jailed for 2 years after apologising for her position in one of many largest monetary scams of all time.

Caroline Ellison, 30, was the CEO of Alameda Analysis and former romantic companion of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who was sentenced to 25 years in jail for scamming clients and buyers out of billions of {dollars} in cryptocurrency.

Ellison, who turned on Bankman-Fried and served because the case’s star witness, was recommended for her co-operation within the case by US District Choose Lewis A Kaplan, who mentioned her testimony was ‘very, very substantial’ and confirmed no inconsistencies with the prosecutor’s case.

However he mentioned a jail sentence was obligatory as a result of she had participated in what may be the ‘biggest monetary fraud ever perpetrated on this nation and doubtless wherever else’ or at the very least near it.

He mentioned in such a severe case, he couldn’t let co-operation be a get-out-of-jail-free card.

‘I’ve seen a number of co-operators in 30 years right here. I’ve by no means seen one fairly like Ms Ellison,’ he mentioned.

She was ordered to report back to jail on November 7.

Ellison pleaded responsible almost two years in the past and gave proof in opposition to Bankman-Fried for almost three days at a trial final November.

At sentencing, she emotionally apologised to anybody damage by the fraud that stretched from 2017 to 2022.

‘I’m deeply ashamed with what I’ve completed,’ she mentioned, combating by way of tears to say she was ‘so so sorry’ to everybody she had harmed immediately or not directly.

In a court docket submitting, prosecutors mentioned her testimony was the ‘cornerstone of the trial’ in opposition to Bankman-Fried, 32, who was discovered responsible of fraud and sentenced to 25 years in jail.

Asking the court docket for a lighter sentence, Ellison’s personal legal professionals cited each her proof on the trial and the trauma of her off-and-on romantic relationship with Bankman-Fried – however additionally they confused that she was not attempting to evade accountability for her crimes.

‘Caroline blames nobody however herself for what she did,’ her legal professionals wrote in a court docket submitting.

‘She regrets her position deeply and can carry disgrace and regret to her grave.’

FTX was one of many world’s hottest cryptocurrency exchanges, recognized for its Superbowl TV advert and its in depth lobbying marketing campaign in Washington, earlier than it collapsed in 2022.

US prosecutors accused Bankman-Fried and different high executives of looting buyer accounts on the alternate to make dangerous investments, make tens of millions of {dollars} of unlawful political donations, bribe Chinese language officers and purchase luxurious actual property within the Caribbean.

Ellison was chief government at Alameda Analysis, a cryptocurrency hedge fund managed by Bankman-Fried that was used to course of some buyer funds from FTX.

Her work relationship with Bankman-Fried was sophisticated by her romantic emotions for him, her legal professionals wrote in a court docket submitting.

‘From the beginning, Mr Bankman-Fried’s behaviour was erratic and manipulative,’ her legal professionals mentioned.

‘He initially professed sturdy emotions for Caroline and prompt their liaison would develop right into a full relationship.

‘However after a couple of weeks, he would “ghost” Caroline with out rationalization, avoiding her exterior of labor and refusing to answer messages that weren’t work-related.’

Because the enterprise started to falter, Ellison divulged the large fraud to staff who labored for her even earlier than FTX filed for chapter, her legal professionals wrote.

Finally, she additionally spoke extensively with US investigators.

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‘Ellison co-operated at nice private {and professional} price, enduring harsh media and public scrutiny and tried witness tampering by Bankman-Fried,’ prosecutors wrote.

They mentioned she was forthcoming about her personal misconduct and was ‘uniquely positioned to clarify not solely the what and the way of Bankman-Fried’s crimes, but additionally the why’.

Since testifying at Bankman-Fried’s trial, Ellison has engaged in in depth charity work, written a novel and labored together with her mother and father on a maths enrichment textbook for superior highschool college students, in keeping with her legal professionals.

They mentioned she additionally now has a wholesome romantic relationship and has reconnected with highschool associates she had misplaced contact with whereas she labored for and generally dated Bankman-Fried from 2017 till late 2022.

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