Much sooner than I expected. Figured it'd be a couple of years before the AG was secure enough in their case to bring charges. This is MUCH faster than Madoff or Holmes. Then again, he's been much more out in the open about everything. He pretty much laid the prosecution's case out to the public for them.
SBF literally stole billions from a bank account. Not a very subtle crime.
SBF Arrested by Bahamian Authorities
831–840 of 886 posts
Re: SBF Arrested by Bahamian Authorities
#832Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Not really. Not being compelled to testify against yourself is also one of the most important rights this country has enshrined. Congress isn't a court, and he was not testifying because congress arrested him or anything - it doesn't work that way. He was going to testify - and a lot of people testify in front of congress all the time. But you used to have to do it in person until the pandemic. Now that congress is…
Congress has the power to charge people with crimes. If Sam wants to testify that’s his choice, but he can’t be forced to
SBF was going to testify. He was going to do it remotely.
My issue is remotely was not an option before the pandemic. It was allowed during the pandemic for good reason, but now that reason doesn't exist anymore. Therefore, remote testifying should not be allowed anymore either...
Re: SBF Arrested by Bahamian Authorities
#833Earlier quoted context omitted.
Maybe they don't need a cooprerating witness or special deals. Apparently the companies were really badly run, with lots of clear-cut violations, making it very easy to file charges. From The Verge article about the arrest of Bankman-Fried ( https://www.theverge.com/2022/12/12/23506483/sam-bankman-fri... ) : John J. Ray III, who has taken over for Bankman-Fried as CEO of FTX and whose credentials include supervising…
John J. Ray III is a star. The board did right to hire him for the clean-up. I am sure he is cooperating closely with US and Bahamian authorities for criminal evidence gathering. And, he is being paid ~2.6M USD annualised (1,300 USD per hour, 2,000+ hours per year). Seems cheap to clean-up that mess. It might take 5-10 years for full clean-up and wind-down. As the mess is so extensive, I wonder if some board members…
Re: SBF Arrested by Bahamian Authorities
#834Earlier quoted context omitted.
Maybe all the evidence they need is on chain. That would be interestingly ironic.
One of the problems of these centralized exchanges is that so much stuff happens off-chain. The DEX don't have these problems (some of them have other problems)
Re: SBF Arrested by Bahamian Authorities
#835Re: SBF Arrested by Bahamian Authorities
#836Earlier quoted context omitted.
This is not correct. Plenty of would-be defendants take deals to testify. Negotiating a deal after you testify is a ridiculous idea and if it has ever happened once, I would love to hear the story.
She is getting the leniency from the sentencing reform act of 1984 which is predicated on cooperation. No way prosecutors have given her a damn thing. Yes, many cases use snitches because that is the only way to win the case, but it is fraught with peril because of the obvious incentive to lie. Prosecutors avoid deals, and sentencing guidelines already provide for leniency for cooperation. When it is all over, they m…
Re: SBF Arrested by Bahamian Authorities
#837Earlier quoted context omitted.
She was spotted in NYC with another Alameda employee too. Maybe the Alameda execs are trying to say they just made irresponsible gambles (like a shitty Wall St investor) but SBF is the one who secretly covered the massive losses with FTX customer assets without telling the public and was responsible for the "dual accounting" issue where deposits were counted twice. Among all the other things that they did wrong. Or m…
> Maybe the Alameda execs are trying to say they just made irresponsible gambles (like a shitty Wall St investor) but SBF is the one who secretly covered the massive losses with FTX customer assets without telling the public and was responsible for the "dual accounting" issue where deposits were counted twice. Among all the other things that they did wrong. Here’s the crazy thing. Maybe they pierce the veil and say t…
“Piercing the veil” is a term of art for holding shareholders accountable for corporate liabilities notwithstanding the civil liability shield usually provided by the corporate form.
Holding coconspirators accountable for their role in a criminal conspiracy doesn’t have a special name because it is routine rather than exceptional.
Re: SBF Arrested by Bahamian Authorities
#838Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Where would they have gotten the full records? Or been able to know where to look in the records? Bankruptcy procedings. Subpoenas. The standard ways the FBI gets records from regular companies run by people who aren't criminals and don't want to become one (the current CEO is a regular business person).
All of that takes time. Subpoenas can be fought. Bankruptcy cases take time, and I’m not sure that prosecutors would get unfettered access to bankruptcy filings (unless/until the presiding judge thought it was relevant). But either way, these things take more time than what has passed thus far. I’m not saying that a case couldn’t have been made without an internal informant — just that it happening so quickly makes m…
They can be, but they don’t have to be, and the current management doesn’t seem interested in protecting SBF or the others formerly responsible for running the FTX network of companies.
Re: SBF Arrested by Bahamian Authorities
#839Earlier quoted context omitted.
Congress has the power to charge people with crimes. If Sam wants to testify that’s his choice, but he can’t be forced to
We're talking about two different things SBF was going to testify. He was going to do it remotely. My issue is remotely was not an option before the pandemic. It was allowed during the pandemic for good reason, but now that reason doesn't exist anymore. Therefore, remote testifying should not be allowed anymore either...
Re: SBF Arrested by Bahamian Authorities
#840Earlier quoted context omitted.
It's clear Caroline Ellison has turned against him. Stephanie Avakian, former SEC enforcement chief, is representing her in NY. I'm guessing they wouldn't have been able to file charges this quickly without Caroline becoming a cooperating witness.
If the charges include manipulating the prices of TerraUSD and Luna earlier in the year - that ironically probably caused the FTX implosion, it's hard how to see Caroline Ellison as head of Alameda wasn't heavily involved in major criminal activities. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/07/business/ftx-sbf-crypto-m... Getting one of two culpable people to testify against the other and let them off the hook seems a dreadf…
You think there are only took culpable parties here?