Media: Sam Bankman-Fried ready to plead guilty in FTX fraud case

Sam Bankman-Fried will formally plead guilty next week to criminal charges of defrauding investors and embezzling client funds, according to Reuters. The next hearing in the case of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, presided over by US District Judge Lewis Kaplan, will take place in federal court in Manhattan on January 3 in the afternoon. Prosecutors accuse Bankman-Fried of years of 'fraud of epic proportions', using client deposits to support the Alameda Research hedge fund, buy real estate and make political donations. The founder of FTX faces up to 115 years in prison. Sam Bankman-Fried is expected to formally plead guilty to the charges next week, sources close to the trial have told the media. Recall that before his arrest on December 12, Bankman-Freed acknowledged the flaws in risk management at FTX, but said that mistakes made through a misunderstanding should not threaten him with criminal liability. Earlier, former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison and former FTX CTO Gary Wang pleaded guilty to involvement in the FTX collapse and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.. On December 22, Sam Bankman-Fried was released on $250 million bail.