Sam Bankman-Fried heads for trial on charges of stealing billions from FTX users

investing.com:

By Jody Godoy and Luc Cohen

NEW YORK (Reuters) — Sam Bankman-Fried is set to go on trial on charges of stealing billions of dollars from customers of his FTX cryptocurrency exchange starting on Tuesday, nearly a year after the company's collapse shocked markets and tattered his reputation.

Federal prosecutors say the 31-year-old former billionaire embezzled from FTX customers since its founding in 2019 through its November 2022 bankruptcy in order to prop up his hedge fund Alameda Research, buy luxury properties and donate more than $100 million to U.S. political candidates.

Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to seven counts of fraud and conspiracy. He has acknowledged inadequate risk management, but denied stealing funds. His lawyers have signaled in court papers they plan to argue that FTX's treatment of customer funds were proper, and that others at FTX and Alameda bore the bulk of the blame for their failure.

The first step in the trial will be selecting the 12-member jury that will ultimately weigh those competing narratives in deciding whether to convict Bankman-Fried.

Starting at around 9:30 a.m. EDT (1330 GMT) in Manhattan federal court, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan will ask a pool of New York residents questions about their backgrounds and experiences in an effort to weed out any prospective jurors who may be biased.

The trial is expected to last up to six weeks. It will feature testimony from three former members of Bankman-Fried's inner circle who have pleaded guilty to fraud charges themselves and agreed to cooperate with the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's office.

Bankman-Fried's lawyers have signaled they plan to challenge the credibility of those witnesses — who include former Alameda chief Caroline