Prosecutors Expose SBF’s Testimony Contradictions in Court

• On his trial, Sam Bankman Fried claimed he didn’t remember most of the details. 
• SBF reportedly offered to repay the Bahamian national debt.
• After evading questions, SBF eventually admitted to being aware of the $8 billion debt.

The trial of Sam Bankman Fried took an interesting turn when SBF himself decided to testify. So far, many reporters have shared that Bankman Fried was being evasive and claiming he doesn’t remember most of the details.

Tiffany Fong, a reporter who’s attending the trial, shared that when FTX first halted withdrawals, they reopened them for customers in the Bahamas. She stated that the prosecutors made SBF “seem a little close to the Bahamian government.” 

Prosecutor Danielle Sassoon pointed out that SBF told the Bahamas prime minister that he’d helped to repay the Bahamian national debt. To which Fong stated, SBF responded, “I don’t remember that.”

Furthermore, the prosecutors brought up North Dimension, an entity to which customers were instructed to wire money to trade on FTX. However, Fong shared that the customers’ money went straight to Alameda. When asked about this, Bankman Fried claimed that this was not his idea and that he became aware of it happening “at some point.” 

Customers didn’t know that their money was going to Alameda, as the instructions didn’t mention Alameda’s name. SBF shared that he didn’t disclose that Alameda was spending out of North Dimension’s account because he thought it was permissible. 

Sassoon highlighted that at the time North Dimension was incorporated, Caroline Ellison wasn’t CEO of Alameda, hinting that North Dimension was SBF’s idea. Moreover, North Dimension became how FTX customer deposits ended up at Alameda and then were spent on repaying loans, making liquid venture investments, real estate, and political donations. 

Furthermore, the prosecutor mentioned that a bug was discovered that revealed that Alameda owed $8 billion to FTX customers. SBF claimed that he overheard conversations about the bug, but he was “too busy and distracted,” and when he asked questions, the employees told him to stop asking because they were busy looking into it.

Adam Yedidia, a former FTX software developer, testified that he fixed the bug and told SBF about the amount, to which SBF said, “I don’t remember him saying it that way.” After a question from the judge, SBF eventually said that Yedidia told him about the $8 billion.