It feels like the most shocking parts of the former FTX boss Sam Bankman-Fried’s trial have already come and gone.
The prosecution wasted no time in the first full week of the trial being held in Manhattan, first bringing fellow FTX co-founder Gary Wang into the witness box, followed by Caroline Ellison, Bankman-Fried’s one-time first friend and business partner.
Wang and Ellison had already pleaded guilty to fraud and money laundering prior to the trial, so their testimonies went as you could expect: A lot of throwing under the bus of their former friend and boss.
Both Wang and Ellison, to their credit, were more than candid about their involvement in fraud while working at FTX and sister company Alameda Research, but they still attempted to paint Bankman-Fried as the evil mastermind of sorts.
Ellison said Bankman-Fried “directed us” to steal FTX customer funds while lying to clients for years.
In return, Bankman-Fried’s defence attempted to paint Ellison as the true mastermind. That decision rests on the jury’s shoulders to make, but there is little doubt that diminutive Ellison, weeping on stand, cut a sympathetic figure.
The testimonies and Wang and Ellison amounted to a fairly vindictive character assassination of Bankman-Fried, one that the defence will have a challenge refuting.
They also brought receipts in the form of highly detailed spreadsheets which the prosecution pored over in great detail.
With these star witnesses done and dusted, the remainder of the trial will likely comprise a more technical analysis of FTX accounts and balances.
Less sexy, perhaps, but at the end of the day, numbers don’t lie.