Breaking: Alameda Research’s Caroline Ellison Sentenced to 2 Years In Prison

Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research, was sentenced to a 24-month jail term on Tuesday. The sentence, which comes after more than a year since she testified in Court, is considered a fair deal based on her cooperation during the trial of FTX Derivatives Exchange’s former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried last year.

Alameda Research Caught Up In FTX Mess

As reported by Reuters, US District Judge Lewis Kaplan pronounced the sentence in Manhattan on Tuesday. He noted that Ellison must pay for her part in the crimes committed by Sam Bankman-Fried despite her cooperation with authorities. In US history, prosecutors regard her ex-lover’s case as one of the biggest financial fraud cases in history.

The 29-year-old pleaded guilty to seven felony counts of fraud and conspiracy. Ideally, the charges the former leader of Alameda Research pleaded guilty to carries a maximum sentence of 110 years in prison. Therefore, her 2-year jail term is obviously fair sentence compared to her crimes. Her co-conspirator SBF is serving a 25-year jail term at the moment.

With the sentencing of Caroline Ellison, three of the most important executive linked to the trading platform has now bagged jail terms. Besides her and SBF, Ryan Salame also bagged a 7-year imprisonment and will commence his jail term on October 11.

However, in a recent move, SBF has appealed the fraud charges, claiming he did not steal customer’s funds. He has also asked for a retrial, citing that Judge Lewis Kaplan wasn’t fair in adjudicating the case which ultimately led to his conviction. Even SBF’s lawyer, Alexandra Shapiro, suggested that Kaplan was biased as he had already presumed that the defendant was guilty from the start.

FTX Auditor Prager Metis Settles With SEC

Meanwhile, the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has settled with FTX Derivatives Exchange’s in-house auditor Prager Metis. This auditor was charged for its negligence in auditing FTX’s books to possibly flag its inconsistencies.

It was also accused of failing to meet up with generally accepted auditing standards between February 2021 and April 2022.

The suit came after the US SEC was blamed for poor oversight for the collapse of the Bahamian-headquartered crypto exchange. To ease off the criticisms, the agency began to seek closure from everyone or any entity that might have been involved in the firm’s blowup. Prager Metis was implicated in the process.

The settlement with the Commission amounted to $1.95 million. The fine includes $745,000 civil penalty, a combined civil penalties of $1 million, and combined disgorgement with prejudgment interest of $205,000.