Bankman-Fried dodges questions during his US crypto trial

guardian.ng:

(FILES) (FILES) Former FTX chief Sam Bankman-Fried leaves the Federal Courthouse following a bail hearing ahead of his October trial, in New York City on July 26, 2023. – Customers of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX, which filed for bankruptcy protection last November, would get back the bulk of their deposits under a plan proposed by liquidators.<br />The announcement comes as FTX co-founder and former majority shareholder Sam Bankman-Fried stands trial in New York, accused of illegally using customer accounts to fund the activities of his investment firm, Alameda Research. (Photo by ANGELA WEISS / AFP)

Sam Bankman-Fried, founder of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, parried with a federal prosecutor on Thursday in high-stakes legal jousting at his criminal fraud trial that seemed to frustrate the judge.

Bankman-Fried was scheduled to take the witness stand after three weeks of devastating testimony for the 31-year-old crypto wunderkind, accused of stealing billions of dollars from clients.

But federal Judge Lewis Kaplan took the unusual step of sending the jury home Thursday and listening to Bankman-Fried, his defense lawyers and a prosecutor go over technical aspects of his upcoming testimony.

The move pushed Bankman-Fried’s appearance before the jury back until at least Friday.

Bankman-Fried, once one of the most respected figures in crypto, has been charged with seven counts of fraud, embezzlement and criminal conspiracy.

If convicted, he could face a de facto life sentence of more than 100 years in prison.

Thursday’s hearing initially seemed confined to points of detail, but assistant US Attorney Danielle Sassoon soon found Bankman-Fried, known widely as SBF, offering evasive answers, drawing a pointed remark from