Caroline Ellison, saying Sam Bankman-Fried corrupted her values, found relief when truth came out

abcnews.go.com:

Sam Bankman-Fried's former top executive has blamed the FTX founder of corrupting her values so that she could lie and steal and create false balance sheets

NEW YORK — NEW YORK (AP) — Sam Bankman-Fried's former top executive, testifying in Manhattan federal court Wednesday, blamed the FTX founder for corrupting her values so she could lie and steal and got emotional when describing the cryptocurrency empire's final days, saying the collapse of his businesses resulted in a “relief that I didn't have to lie anymore.”

Caroline Ellison, who eventually was made chief executive of Bankman-Fried's cryptocurrency hedge fund, Alameda Research, blamed the man she was entwined with romantically for several years since 2018 for creating justifications so that she could do things that she now admits were wrong and illegal.

Testifying for a second day, she recalled that Bankman-Fried said he wanted to do the greatest good for the most people and that rules like “don't lie” or “don't steal” must sometimes be set aside.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon asked Ellison how she was affected by Bankman-Fried's philosophy.

“I think it made me more willing to do things like lie and steal over time,” she said.

After several hours on the witness stand, Ellison got choked up as she described the final days of FTX and Alameda, saying that the early November period before the businesses filed for bankruptcy “was overall the worst week of my life.”

Still, she said she felt bad for “all the people harmed” when there wasn't enough money left for all of FTX's customers and Alameda's lenders.

When the end arrived, Ellison said it left her with a “sense of relief that I didn't have to lie anymore.”

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