Breaking: Alameda CEO Caroline, FTX Co-Founder Plead Guilty, CFTC, SEC Charges

Former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison and FTX co-founder Gary Wang have pleaded guilty to criminal charges by the US Southern District of New York on early Thursday. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed criminal charges separately.

Alameda CEO Caroline Allison and FTX’s Gary Wang Plead Guilty

U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams said that Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang had been charged “in connection with their roles in the frauds that contributed to FTX’s collapse.” Also, Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang are now cooperating with prosecutors investigating the collapse of FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried.

The CFTC charged Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison and FTX co-founder Gary Wang with fraud in an action against Sam Bankman-Fried and his companies. Previously, CFTC filed fraud charges against Samuel Bankman-Fried, FTX, and Alameda for a fraudulent scheme that caused the loss of over $8 billion in FTX customer deposits.

Moreover, the SEC charged Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang for their roles in a multiyear scheme to defraud equity investors in the crypto trading platform FTX. Ellison and Wang are also cooperating with agencies as part of a settlement.

If the settlement is approved, Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang give up money made during their terms in FTX and Alameda. Moreover, they will be banned from the “issuance, purchase, offer, or sale of any securities.”

“As part of their deception, we allege that Caroline Ellison and Sam Bankman-Fried schemed to manipulate the price of FTT, an exchange crypto security token that was integral to FTX, to prop up the value of their house of cards,” said SEC Chair Gary Gensler.

Meanwhile, Sam Bankman-Fried is now in FBI custody and en route to New York. A Bahamas judge approved Sam Bankman-Fried’s extradition from the Bahamas to the U.S. for facing criminal charges over FTX’s collapse. Prosecutors charged Sam Bankman-Fried with eight criminal counts, including charges of conspiracy, fraud, and money laundering. Bankman-Fried is expected to appear in federal court in Manhattan on Thursday.

Also Read: Why Did Deribit Exchange Transfer 10,000 ETH To Alameda Research?