Star witness Caroline Ellison starts testimony at FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried's trial

abcnews.go.com:

The trial of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has taken a star turn as his former fellow top executive and ex-girlfriend Caroline Ellison began testifying against him

NEW YORK — The trial of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried took a star turn Tuesday as his former fellow top executive, Caroline Ellison, began testifying against him, immediately blaming her former boyfriend for directing her to commit crimes before his cryptocurrency empire collapsed last November.

Ellison’s highly anticipated turn on the witness stand in Manhattan federal court took place just moments before the trial broke for lunch.

When she was asked to identify Bankman-Fried in the courtroom, Ellison stood at the witness stand as she scanned the courtroom for a long minute, at first unable to find him, before gesturing his way with a flip of her hand and saying he was “over there wearing a suit.”

Bankman-Fried's appearance has changed dramatically in recent months as he has lost weight and trimmed his well-known wild coif into a tightly cropped look more traditional in the world of finance.

In the trial's second week, Ellison said she committed fraud, conspiracy to commit fraud and money laundering along with Bankman-Fried and others.

Asked by a prosecutor about Bankman-Fried's involvement, she said: “He directed me to commit these crimes.”

Bankman-Fried could face decades in prison if he is convicted of charges lodged against him when he was brought to the United States from the Bahamas last December. He has pleaded not guilty.

Bankman-Fried, 31, was one of the world’s wealthiest people on paper, with an estimated net worth of $32 billion, when his cryptocurrency businesses collapsed as investors and customers sought to empty their accounts last November.