Associates of FTX founder Bankman-Fried plead guilty to criminal charges

business-standard.com:

Two top associates of Sam Bankman-Fried have pleaded guilty to criminal charges in the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX in cooperation deals, a federal prosecutor announced Wednesday in a stunning development that came as the digital coin entrepreneur was being flown in FBI custody to the US from the Bahamas.

Carolyn Ellison, the 28-year-old former CEO of Alameda Research, a trading firm started by Bankman-Fried, and Gary Wang, the 29-year-old who co-founded FTX, pleaded guilty to charges related to their roles in the fraud that contributed to FTX's collapse, US Attorney Damian Williams said on Wednesday night in a video statement released on social media.

They are both cooperating with the Southern District of New York, Williams said, adding that anyone else who participated in the fraud should also reach out to his office because our patience is not eternal.

He promised that his office continued to work on the case around the clock, noting that he'd said in announcing Bankman-Fried's arrest last week that the development was not the last.

Let me be clear once again, neither is today's, he said in an ominous signal to others who participated in the fraud.

The guilty pleas were announced as Bankman-Fried was being extradited from the Bahamas by US law enforcement to answer to charges tied to his role in FTX's failure. He was expected to appear in a federal court in Manhattan on Thursday.

In agreements signed with prosecutors on December 19, Ellison and Wang agreed to plead guilty to charges including wire fraud, securities fraud and commodities fraud in return for leniency at sentencing if they cooperate fully.

The plea agreement signed by Ellison said that she could face up to 110 years in prison for her