The collapsed crypto exchange’s co-founder Gary Wang and former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison are reportedly cooperating with investigatorsTwo associates of former FTX chief executive Sam Bankman-Fried have pleaded guilty to criminal charges related to the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange, US Attorney Damian Williams revealed on Wednesday.He said that former FTX chief technology officer Gary Wang and former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison were cooperating with the Justice Department’s investigation.Ellison (28) ran the crypto hedge fund Alameda Research, which was a subsidiary of FTX. She had previously worked with Bankman-Fried at Jane Street and was reportedly his girlfriend at times.The charges were released the same Wednesday night that Bankman-Fried was extradited from the Bahamas and landed back in New York, where he faces eight federal criminal charges from the same prosecutors who accepted plea deals from Ellison and Wang.Bankman-Fried is suspected of defrauding investors out of nearly $2 billion. According to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the fallen crypto billionaire concealed both risks and FTX’s relationship with its trading firm, Alameda Research, and used commingled customer funds.The SEC also charges that, as late as last month, Bankman-Fried was continuing to mislead investors while trying to fill a multi-billion-dollar hole in FTX’s balance sheet. It only stopped when FTX and Alameda filed for bankruptcy protection on November 11, the regulator said.
This article was originally published by RT.