SBF Trial: Sam Bankman-Fried is Next in line to Take the Stand

The criminal trial of Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) has entered the fourth week and he is next in line to take the witness stand after some of his former colleagues have testified.

SBF Trial to Welcome Main Accused to the Stand

During a telephone conference between SBF’s lawyers, prosecutors, and Judge Lewis Kaplan on Wednesday, Mark Cohen, SBF’s lawyer confirmed that the 31-year-old will testify in his defense on Thursday and his testimony is likely to take the whole day. If this is the case, cross-examination may not happen until Friday. 

There had previously been speculations as to whether Bankman-Fried would testify, with some analysts seriously considering the possibility. It was said that if the billionaire finally decided to testify, it would take a few days. Markedly, Bankman-Fried is one of the three additional witnesses that his defense team plans to call to the stand.

The prosecution team is scheduled to complete the presentation of its case on October 26th after which the defense team will begin with their first witness. So far, the prosecution team has presented over a dozen witnesses in the trial including some former SBF associates. 

Prosecution’s Long Witness List

Cocoa bean trader Marc-Antoine Julliard who invested roughly $100,000 in cash and crypto which got stuck on FTX was the first witness from the prosecution team. He accused the former FTX boss of misusing billions of dollars in customers’ deposits.

Adam Yedidia, Bankman-Fried’s college roommate in MIT was one of those who took the stand in the first week of the fraud trial. In his testimony, he clarified that there was a bug in Alameda Research’s codes. This bug led to some discrepancies in the financial books of the company.

Precisely, the bug stopped Alameda’s liabilities from decreasing and Bankman-Fried was informed of the development but he chose to conceal the information. Besides Yedidia, Gary Wang has also testified uncovering fraudulent motives to bolster the prosecution’s charges.

The accused ex-girlfriend and business partner Caroline Ellison was also called to take the stand in the second week of the trial. Her testimonies noted Bankman-Fried’s plan to raise equity from Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, a revelation that shocked those following the trial.

With Bankman-Fried billed to take the stand next, it is not certain what argument he would make in a bid to defend himself from all the testimonies that have been made against him.