Caroline Ellison, a former executive of the fallen FTX cryptocurrency empire, has received a lighter two-year sentence for her role in the company's collapse, after testifying against her former boyfriend and FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried.
Ellison, 29, was chief executive of FTX-linked hedge fund Alameda Research and had faced up to 110 years in prison after pleading guilty to seven charges, including fraud and money laundering. Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in March for financial fraud.
Ellison's prison sentence will be followed by three years of probation. Prosecutors said that she deserved leniency for co-operating with investigators, including testifying against Bankman-Fried.
US District Judge Lewis Kaplan called Ellison’s co-operation “remarkable” and praised her testimony during the fraud trial. But he said that the case was one of the “most serious” financial frauds ever committed and that her co-operation can’t be a “get out of jail free card”.
He said that punishment was necessary to deter others from similar conduct because cryptocurrency fraud “is easy and has attracted a lot of perpetrators”.
Mr Kaplan said he would recommend that Ellison be held in a minimum-security prison. She will surrender to serve her prison term on or after November 7.
"Most of the market doesn’t even remember who Caroline is at this point. A crime is a crime, regardless of the industry. SBF was the head of the company and is now facing a long jail sentence. Caroline has been co-operating with investigators, so she may receive a lighter sentence, but in the end, it doesn’t matter," said Talal Tabbaa, chief executive of crypto trading platform CoinMena.
"The industry has matured significantly since then. Exchange-traded funds for Bitcoin and Ethereum have been approved, and the largest asset managers in the world, including BlackRock, are regularly buying billions of dollars worth of Bitcoin."
FTX was once one of the world's most popular platforms for trading digital currency. It allowed investors to buy dozens of virtual currencies, from Bitcoin to lesser known ones such as Shiba Inu Coin.
Bankman-Fried was found guilty in November of fraud and conspiracy after being accused of stealing $8 billion from customers – a major fall from grace from a year ago, when he and his companies seemed to be riding a crest of success that resulted in a Super Bowl advertisement and celebrity endorsements from stars such as American football quarterback Tom Brady and comedian Larry David.
He was worth billions of dollars on paper as the co-founder and chief executive of FTX, which was the second-largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world at one time. But the collapse of cryptocurrency prices in 2022 took its toll on FTX and ultimately led to its downfall.
In the courtroom, Ellison apologised to lenders, investors, and victims who lost money as a result of her actions.
former chief executive, Alameda Research
“Not a day goes by that I don’t think about all of the people I hurt,” she said. “I’m sorry I wasn’t brave.”
Ellison served as a key witness in the trial of Bankman-Fried. During her court testimony, she accused him of dipping into customers' funds to drive his more risky projects. Bankman-Fried countered by attempting to pin the blame on Ellison, describing her as a bad manager.
On the witness box, Ellison described how she worked with him to deceive lenders and customers and their failed attempts to stop the company from collapsing.
While behind bars Bankman-Fried has appealed against conviction, accusing the judge of blocking his legal team from introducing evidence that would have helped his defence.
The daughter of Massachusetts Institute of Technology economics professors, Ellison met Bankman-Fried as a summer intern at quant trading shop Jane Street Group in 2015. Three years later, Bankman-Fried convinced her to join his new crypto trading firm Alameda Research, by telling her she could make a lot of money and give it to charity.
A billionaire before he turned 30, Bankman-Fried had been a poster boy for the cryptocurrency boom.
He started FTX as a start-up in 2019. However, the company used deposited assets to carry out riskier transactions through sister company Alameda Research, as well as to purchase real estate and make political donations.
FTX imploded in November 2022, reporting more than $8 billion in debt by the time the company filed for bankruptcy.
With inputs from agencies
