Sam Bankman-Fried, Caroline Ellison retain high-powered white collar lawyers amid FTX probe

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried and Alameda Study CEO Caroline Ellison have each retained large-run legal protection attorneys specializing in white-collar crimes amid the ongoing regulation enforcement probes into the collapse of their crypto empire.

Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas on Monday at the ask for of U.S. authorities in advance of his very likely extradition at a later day. On Tuesday, a federal prosecutor unsealed an indictment revealing Bankman-Fried has been billed with eight crimes.

The fees in opposition to him incorporate wire fraud on clients, additionally a related conspiracy charge wire fraud on loan companies, plus a conspiracy demand in addition to conspiracies to commit commodities fraud, securities fraud, cash laundering, and violate marketing campaign finance rules.

SAM BANKMAN-FRIED DENIED BAIL IN BAHAMAS, Ordered HELD Until eventually FEB. 8 IN ALLEGED FTX FRAUD Scheme

Samuel Bankman-Fried leaves Magistrate Court, Nassau Bahamas, December 13, 2022. Samuel Bankman-Fried leaves Justice of the peace Courtroom, Nassau Bahamas, December 13, 2022. The FTX founder is charged with 8 counts of conspiracy and fraud of buyers in his (Mega for Fox News Electronic / Fox News)

In complete, the charges Bankman-Fried faces have a complete possible sentence of up to 115 decades in jail based mostly on federal sentencing rules for individuals crimes. The wire fraud prices – which include the conspiracy costs – and the income laundering conspiracy count have a highest sentence of 20 a long time in prison apiece. Every single of the commodities and securities fraud prices and the marketing campaign finance conspiracy cost carries a highest sentence of five many years in jail.

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The activity of avoiding Bankman-Fried from investing the relaxation of his lifestyle in jail if identified responsible of the crimes he stands accused of falls to Mark Cohen, of Cohen & Gresser regulation agency. 

Cohen, a former federal prosecutor, has represented a wide range of clients including economic firms, hedge resources, executives, vitality corporations, and other individuals experiencing federal fees. Notably, Cohen represented Jeffrey Epstein’s confidante Ghislaine Maxwell in her sex trafficking trial and was a protection legal professional for Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, who was a chief in the Sinaloa drug cartel. 

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Sam Bankman-Fried, co-founder and ex-CEO of FTX, in Hong Kong, China. A choose in the Bahamas purchased Bankman-Fried held right up until Feb. 8 even with federal fees versus him in the United States.  (Photographer: Lam Yik/Bloomberg by means of Getty Photographs / Getty Photos)

At a push convention Tuesday saying the expenses against Bankman-Fried, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams mentioned that the Bankman-Fried circumstance, which has drawn comparisons to Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme and the Enron scandal, will go down as “one particular of the largest frauds in American background.”

Williams also issued an ominous warning to Bankman-Fried’s conspirators who might face costs, expressing, “In terms of regardless of whether we’re going to carry fees from anyone else, glance, I can only say this: Obviously, we are not finished.”

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John J. Ray III, CEO of FTX Group, prepares to testify for the duration of the Home Economical Products and services Committee listening to titled Investigating the Collapse of FTX, Section I, on Tuesday, December 13, 2022. Ray took more than immediately after the resignation of Sam Bankman-Fried. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Phone, Inc by means of Getty Visuals / Getty Images)

As of Tuesday, no fees have been filed towards Caroline Ellison, the noted ex-girlfriend of Bankman-Fried who he appointed to lead Alameda Analysis. 

Nonetheless, Ellison has retained the expert services of Stephanie Avakian, a associate at the regulation organization of WilmerHale. Avakian has deep expertise in lawful issues connected to the monetary sector, as she was earlier the director of the Securities and Trade Commission’s Division of Enforcement. 

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At existing, Avakian leads WilmerHale’s Securities and Economic Expert services Section and has labored to counsel and defend publicly-traded firms, corporate boards, investment decision banks, and individual executives associated with government investigations.

Fox Business’ Charles Gasparino famous on Twitter that Ellison’s preference of an attorney from WilmerHale has fueled speculation that “she will cooperate” with prosecutors and flip on Bankman-Fried offered the firm’s connections to the federal prosecutor’s workplace in Manhattan and its standing for securing plea discounts.