“Who is responsible? This man,” Roos said, pointing to Bankman-Fried, seated just feet away and bracing for the jury’s judgment on seven criminal counts of fraud and conspiracy that could send him to prison for decades.
The prosecution’s closing argument launched the last phase of Bankman-Fried’s trial. He is accused of stealing billions of dollars from customers of the crypto trading platform he co-founded, FTX, to fund venture investments, real estate purchases and political contributions.
The company, once valued at $32 billion, collapsed a year ago, along with Bankman-Fried’s hedge fund, Alameda Research, which prosecutors say he used to facilitate one of the biggest financial frauds in history.
Bankman-Fried and his attorneys have argued that the former executive acted in good faith but paid insufficient attention to risk as his business grew rapidly. Testifying in his own defense this week, he said he did not know about the misappropriation of customer funds until last fall. He pinned responsibility on his subordinates, contradicting testimony from his three top lieutenants, who said he directed the scheme.
Roos told jurors on Wednesday that Bankman-Fried had lied to them from the stand. “This is not about technical jargon,” the prosecutor said. “It’s about lies. It’s about stealing.”
Roos noted that Bankman-Fried said that he did not recall information 140 times during the prosecution’s cross-examination, a claim he never made while his attorneys questioned him.
Mark Cohen, Bankman-Fried’s lead attorney, countered that prosecutors built their case on the “false premise” that FTX was a fraud from the start. Instead, Cohen said in his closing argument, “the business grew because they all worked very hard together,” referring to the defendant and the former deputies who pleaded guilty and testified against him.
Government lawyers had attempted to criminalize something that was nothing more than a business failure, Cohen said. “Every movie needs a villain,” he said.
Bankman-Fried’s parents, Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried — who have become fixtures in the courtroom, seated behind their son — left before the government’s presentation began and returned for the defense’s closing argument.
Jurors are expected to start deliberating Thursday.
Tan reported from New York.
