Sam Bankman-Fried could take stand at fraud trial over FTX collapse

investing.com:

By Luc Cohen

NEW YORK (Reuters) — Sam Bankman-Fried could take the stand at his fraud trial as soon as Thursday, when prosecutors are set to finish presenting their case accusing the founder of now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX of stealing billions of dollars from customers.

Defense lawyer Mark Cohen said in a court hearing on Wednesday that Bankman-Fried would testify in his own defense, a risky move that will give prosecutors the chance to cross-examine the 31-year-old former billionaire about testimony from former close colleagues that he directed them to commit crimes.

Legal experts said Bankman-Fried has little to lose by bucking conventional wisdom and testifying, given weeks of testimony against him by insiders painting an unflattering portrait of his character.

He has already taken an unusual approach for a criminal defendant. Instead of laying low after he was charged, he published blog posts on his view of what went wrong and met with several journalists.

Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty and maintained that while he made mistakes running FTX, he never intended to steal funds. His lawyers have said three of his former colleagues, who have pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors, tailored their testimony to implicate Bankman-Fried in the hopes of receiving lenient sentences.

Prosecutors say Bankman-Fried used the misappropriated funds to prop up his crypto-focused hedge fund, Alameda Research, make speculative venture investments, and donate more than $100 million to U.S. political campaigns. They say Alameda looted FTX funds through special trading privileges on the exchange.

Prosecutors expect to call just one more witness, FBI agent Mark Troiano, when the trial resumes at 9:30