Sam Bankman-Fried's fraud trial got underway with jury selection on Tuesday (October 3), nearly a year after his now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange's collapse shocked markets and tattered his reputation. - REUTERS
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00:00 Sam Bankman Freed's fraud trial began on Tuesday in a Manhattan courtroom, starting with jury selection.
00:07 It's the highest-profile case U.S. prosecutors have ever brought against a former cryptocurrency executive.
00:14 It's been nearly a year since Bankman Freed's now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX collapsed, shocking markets and tattering his reputation.
00:24 Federal prosecutors say the 31-year-old former billionaire embezzled from FTX customers from its founding in 2019 to its bankruptcy in 2022.
00:35 They say he used the money to prop up his hedge fund, buy luxury properties and donate more than $100 million to U.S. political candidates.
00:45 Bankman Freed has pleaded not guilty to seven counts of fraud and conspiracy.
00:50 His lawyers have signaled in court papers they plan to argue that FTX's treatment of customer funds was proper and that others were to blame.
00:59 They also plan to argue that Bankman Freed believed he was allowed to invest customer deposits
01:05 and that it was a series of business failures, not deliberate fraud, that left the exchange without enough money to meet withdrawal requests.
01:14 The trial will feature testimony from former members of Bankman Freed's inner circle who have pleaded guilty to fraud charges
01:21 and agreed to cooperate with the Manhattan U.S. Attorney's Office.
01:25 The trial is expected to last up to six weeks.