
Caroline Ellison, the government's star witness in its criminal case against the disgraced former CEO of FTX, is expected to take the stand on Tuesday as the criminal trial of Sam Bankman-Fried resumes in a downtown Manhattan courthouse.
In December, Ellison, who ran FTX's sister hedge fund Alameda Research, pleaded guilty to two counts of wire fraud, two counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
In part of Ellison's plea deal with the government, it has involved Cooperating with the prosecution's case against Bankman-Fried, similar to the arrangement struck with Gary Wang, the lesser-known co-founder of FTX and Alameda.
Ellison provides a unique view of the defendant, having been one of the company's earliest recruits in 2017 and was one of the company's first hires. Bankman-Fried had reportedly convinced the Stanford graduate to quit her Wall Street trading job at Jane Capital to join Alameda as a trader, before the hedge fund was still in its original office in the San Francisco Bay area. Ellison also spent several years as Bankman-Fried's on-again, off-again girlfriend and, at times, his roommate.
Rehn allege in his opening that it was Bankman-Fried who had concocted a'scheme to take money from FTX and give it to Alameda' and that Ellison would share the details of how she and her former lover stole customer money from FTX and deployed that cash through Alameda.
Bankman-Fried's lead defense attorney Mark Cohen cast Ellison as a leader who held firm control over the firm and whose leadership ultimately led the company to the ground.
This week's proceedings are marked by the mention of Ellison's co-CEO, Sam Trabucco, who was a pupil of Bankman-Fried at MIT. In Aug. 2022, Trabucco left Alameda and has remained relatively under the radar.