Prosecutor cites 'pyramid of deceit' in urging jury to convict FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried

abcnews.go.com:

In a closing argument, a prosecutor told a New York jury to follow overwhelming evidence and the “pyramid of deceit” that FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried constructed to conclude he's guilty of fraud charges

NEW YORK — In a closing argument, a prosecutor told a New York jury Wednesday to follow overwhelming evidence and the “pyramid of deceit” that FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried constructed to conclude he’s guilty of defrauding his customers and investors of at least $10 billion.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicolas Roos launched a day of closings in Manhattan federal court by saying Bankman-Fried was at fault for stealing billions of dollars from investors worldwide despite four days of testimony in which Bankman-Fried insisted that he was unaware that his customers' deposits were at risk until weeks before his companies collapsed.

“He told a story and he lied to you,” Roos told jurors just a day after Bankman-Fried concluded his testimony at the monthlong trial.

The prosecutor said Bankman-Fried wanted jurors to believe that he had no idea what was happening at his companies or what was happening was wrong, but that his words conflicted with the testimony of his fellow executives, his “partners in crime,” and other evidence including financial documents and public statements Bankman-Fried had made.

Bankman-Fried, 31, was arrested last December, a month after the collapse of FTX, the cryptocurrency exchange platform he opened in 2019, and Alameda Research, the cryptocurrency hedge fund he started in 2017.

Extradited from the Bahamas to New York, he was freed on a $250 million personal recognizance bond with electronic monitoring to ensure he remained at his parent's home in Palo Alto, California, until August, when Judge Lewis