[ad_1]
Disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried said Monday He will testify remotely without being present in person Before Congress, he was “very reserved” and had security concerns about “paparazzi” if he traveled to Washington, DC.
Lawmakers on the House Financial Services Committee are preparing to grill Bankman-Fried on Tuesday about the rapid decline of the once multi-billion-dollar digital currency exchange.
During an interview on Monday with the site “Extraordinary Whales” conducted on Twitter Space, Bankman-Fried confirmed that she will testify – but via a Zoom link from her luxury home in the Bahamas.
After FTX filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 11, Banker-Fried went on a whirlwind media tour to defend his actions. But when asked why he didn’t show up for the House hearing, the crypto huckster said: “I’m too booked up.”
When pressed on whether her refusal to appear in person on the Twitter space was due to fear of arrest, Bankman-Fried responded that she was blocked by “paparazzi”.
“I didn’t think I was going to get arrested,” Bankman-Fried told the more than 19,000 Twitter users who tuned in to the interview. The Post has reached out to Bankman-Fried for comment.
During a Twitter Space interview, Bankman-Fried admitted to playing video games that cause clicking sounds to be heard in the background. He said he will appear before the House panel on Tuesday.
FTX CEO John J. Ray III, a bankruptcy expert and attorney who was installed as chief executive after the crypto exchange filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, will testify on Tuesday.
During the “Extraordinary Whales” interview, Bankman-Fried said she was “open and ready” to appear before the powerful Senate Banking Committee on Wednesday.
In a tweet on Friday, he said he was limited in what he could say to Congress leaders “Wouldn’t be as helpful” as he’d like..
The tweet came in response to several tweets by House Financial Services Committee Chair Maxine Waters (D-Calif) earlier this month. On the collapse of FTX.
In a series of tweets to Bankman-Fried, Waters said in a series of tweets to Bankman-Fried that “it is clear to us that the information you have so far is sufficient to testify,” based on multiple media interviews since the FTX collapse.
Unlike Bankman-Fried’s interviews with reporters, his testimony to Congress would put him at risk of perjury.
Federal prosecutors are reportedly gathering a possible fraud charge against the disgraced crypto mogul — and speculation is growing that it’s his ex-girlfriend Caroline Ellison. May become a stool pigeon In the case Ellison was in charge of FTX’s sister cryptocurrency trading firm, Alameda Research.
Judicial officials in the Southern District of New York are reportedly investigating the alleged transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars from the United States to the Bahamas around the time his FTX cryptocurrency exchange filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. According to Bloomberg News.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan are also investigating whether Bankman-Fried manipulated crypto markets by regulating trades that led to the collapse of the TerraUSD cryptocurrency earlier this year. According to earlier reports.
Bankman-Fried has denied personal responsibility for FTX’s collapse and said he was “not trying to commit fraud”. He also said there was “unknown pooled funding” between FTX and Alameda Research.
Meanwhile, Ellison Coffee is said to have been caught It hired Stephanie Avakian, a partner at the white-shoe law firm Wilmer Hale who is a former head of enforcement at the Securities and Exchange Commission — and a Soho restaurant in Manhattan — last week. Bloomberg reported separately.
The Post has reached out to Wilmer Hale for comment.
Although Bankman-Fried has given several interviews in recent weeks and posted frequently on social media, Ellison has remained silent — leading some observers to believe he is willing to cooperate with authorities.
With post wires
[ad_2]