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- 1 A crucial piece of evidence, Caroline Ellison’s diary, containing pivotal information has been recovered.
- 2 Ellison pleaded guilty and testified against SBF in the FTX Bankruptcy case.
The FTX-saga just got more interesting, as a diary belonging to Caroline Elison emerged as key evidence in the infamous case. The former CEO of Alameda Research and alleged girlfriend of the former crypto white knight and FTX CEO Sam Bankman Fried is a key witness helping the plaintiffs. The diary was recovered on May 23, 2023, and could reveal more information.
Caroline Ellison’s ‘diary’ a key piece of evidence in Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX fraud case: report https://t.co/FyplF2kijx pic.twitter.com/h2eJiZaJzJ
— New York Post (@nypost) May 23, 2023
Caroline Ellison’s Dairy & its Impact on FTX’s Case & SBF
Her notebook is believed to be a treasure box of evidence, documents and other insider information crucial to the case. The data would help build a solid case against Sam Bankman-Fried, who will face trials in October 2023.
Along with this notebook, prosecutors also possess some electronic documents written by her. Ellison has reportedly “expressed personal and professional resentment” regarding her boyfriend SBF in these documents. She has already pleaded guilty to all the charges and is set to testify against Bankman.
In March 2023, it was revealed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) that they were facing trouble in extracting data from SBF’s laptop, further stating that it was so crammed with information that it took their team weeks to unsheathe his Slack messages.
The diary could act as a black box of the black swan event of the crypto industry in which the once third largest crypto exchange, FTX, collapsed in November 2022. It could provide determining information regarding the relationships and disagreements among the management of the now-bankrupt crypto exchange.
How Would Defense Argue Against the Diary?
However, the defense could argue that Ellison is cooperating with the authorities to save herself from a long time behind bars, argues former federal prosecutor Moira Penza. She also said that “modern juries are not likely to take at face value they are testifying because of a vendetta or a failed romance.”
Even before she could testify, Ellison was reportedly facing 110 years imprisonment because prosecutors alleged that she, SBF and other FTX associates were involved in misusing customers’ funds to adjust the losses of Alameda Research.
Sam Bankman-Fried's ex Caroline Ellison faced 110 years in jail https://t.co/EybXCWLKUh pic.twitter.com/TOVCGwsQtL
— New York Post (@nypost) December 23, 2022
The relationship between Sam Bankman-Fried and Caroline Ellison has garnered significant interest from authorities and media since the collapse. Some have even alleged that the couple ran a massive cryptocurrency empire from a luxurious penthouse in the Bahamas. Also, speculations are that customers’ funds were used to pay for the luxury.
In December 2022, while speaking to federal court, Caroline Elison pleaded guilty and said she was “truly sorry” for her actions. Former top executives of the crypto empire, co-founder Gary Wang, and former associate Nishad Singh are also testifying against SBF.
Born in 1994, the daughter of Glenn Ellison, a professor of Economics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) – the alma mater of SBF, where he studied physics from 2010 to 2014. She was a former trader at Jane Street between 2016 to 2018; interestingly, SBF worked here from 2014 to 2017.
Ellison joined Alameda Research in 2018 as a trader and became its CEO in 2021.
Andrew is a blockchain developer who developed his interest in cryptocurrencies while pursuing his post-graduation major in blockchain development. He is a keen observer of details and shares his passion for writing, along with coding. His backend knowledge about blockchain helps him give a unique perspective to his writing skills, and a reliable craft at explaining the concepts such as blockchain programming, languages and token minting. He also frequently shares technical details and performance indicators of ICOs and IDOs.
