王子肖(音譯,Gary Wang,也譯作加里·王)在擔(dān)任現(xiàn)已破產(chǎn)的加密貨幣交易所FTX的首席技術(shù)官時(shí),曾親自簽署了數(shù)億美元的貸款。用于什么投資呢?他在前加密貨幣大亨山姆·班克曼-弗里德(Sam Bankman-Fried)受人矚目的欺詐案受審作證第三天表示,他"回憶不起來(lái)了"。
為了指證班克曼-弗里德,王與政府簽署了一項(xiàng)合作協(xié)議。他表示,F(xiàn)TX的前首席執(zhí)行官指示他從Alameda Research貸款(班克曼-弗里德也是該加密貨幣對(duì)沖基金的所有者)。王說(shuō),這些貸款是用來(lái)“投資”的,但他不記得大部分貸款的用途,只記得部分資金用于收購(gòu) LedgerX(FTX在2021年收購(gòu)了LedgerX)。
王補(bǔ)充說(shuō),貸款的利息支付變得如此繁瑣,以至于他又從Alameda Research貸款100萬(wàn)美元來(lái)支付這些費(fèi)用。(他用這筆貸款中的20萬(wàn)美元在圣基茨購(gòu)買(mǎi)了一套房子。)
在辯方和控方詢(xún)問(wèn)他從Alameda Research欠下的巨額債務(wù)后,主審法官劉易斯·卡普蘭(Lewis Kaplan)進(jìn)行了干預(yù)。他問(wèn)道:"你為什么要在不知道貸款用途的情況下簽署一大堆貸款文件?”
王回答說(shuō):"山姆讓我這么做的,我信任他。"他指的是班克曼-弗里德,他最初是在高中時(shí)的數(shù)學(xué)夏令營(yíng)上認(rèn)識(shí)班克曼-弗里德的。
根據(jù)班克曼-弗里德的律師周一晚間提交的一份文件,這位FTX前首席執(zhí)行官的律師引出了關(guān)于貸款的討論,顯然是為了證明FTX的前任法律顧問(wèn),特別是孫燦(音譯)和丹尼爾·弗里德伯格(Dan Friedberg),給交易所高管提供了毫無(wú)根據(jù)且風(fēng)險(xiǎn)很大的法律建議。王說(shuō),孫和弗里德伯格都指示他在本票上簽字。
這可能是一項(xiàng)更廣泛戰(zhàn)略的一部分,目的是進(jìn)行律師建議辯護(hù),也就是說(shuō),班克曼-弗里德和他的副手們是根據(jù)所謂的不當(dāng)法律指導(dǎo)行事的。
除了王愿意以個(gè)人名義為班克曼-弗里德承擔(dān)數(shù)億美元的債務(wù)之外,他在作證的第三天,也是最后一天,還對(duì)自己在FTX的最后日子做了非常準(zhǔn)確的描述。
他說(shuō),他在11月17日主動(dòng)與檢察官會(huì)面,當(dāng)時(shí)距離這家加密貨幣交易所申請(qǐng)破產(chǎn)還不到一周。王、他的律師和政府加快討論進(jìn)程,他于12月19日與司法部簽署了一項(xiàng)合作協(xié)議。
周二下午,他離開(kāi)了證人席。按計(jì)劃,下一位證人是Alameda Research前首席執(zhí)行官卡洛琳·埃里森(Caroline Ellison),她也同意與政府合作。(財(cái)富中文網(wǎng))
譯者:中慧言-王芳
王子肖(音譯,Gary Wang,也譯作加里·王)在擔(dān)任現(xiàn)已破產(chǎn)的加密貨幣交易所FTX的首席技術(shù)官時(shí),曾親自簽署了數(shù)億美元的貸款。用于什么投資呢?他在前加密貨幣大亨山姆·班克曼-弗里德(Sam Bankman-Fried)受人矚目的欺詐案受審作證第三天表示,他"回憶不起來(lái)了"。
為了指證班克曼-弗里德,王與政府簽署了一項(xiàng)合作協(xié)議。他表示,F(xiàn)TX的前首席執(zhí)行官指示他從Alameda Research貸款(班克曼-弗里德也是該加密貨幣對(duì)沖基金的所有者)。王說(shuō),這些貸款是用來(lái)“投資”的,但他不記得大部分貸款的用途,只記得部分資金用于收購(gòu) LedgerX(FTX在2021年收購(gòu)了LedgerX)。
王補(bǔ)充說(shuō),貸款的利息支付變得如此繁瑣,以至于他又從Alameda Research貸款100萬(wàn)美元來(lái)支付這些費(fèi)用。(他用這筆貸款中的20萬(wàn)美元在圣基茨購(gòu)買(mǎi)了一套房子。)
在辯方和控方詢(xún)問(wèn)他從Alameda Research欠下的巨額債務(wù)后,主審法官劉易斯·卡普蘭(Lewis Kaplan)進(jìn)行了干預(yù)。他問(wèn)道:"你為什么要在不知道貸款用途的情況下簽署一大堆貸款文件?”
王回答說(shuō):"山姆讓我這么做的,我信任他。"他指的是班克曼-弗里德,他最初是在高中時(shí)的數(shù)學(xué)夏令營(yíng)上認(rèn)識(shí)班克曼-弗里德的。
根據(jù)班克曼-弗里德的律師周一晚間提交的一份文件,這位FTX前首席執(zhí)行官的律師引出了關(guān)于貸款的討論,顯然是為了證明FTX的前任法律顧問(wèn),特別是孫燦(音譯)和丹尼爾·弗里德伯格(Dan Friedberg),給交易所高管提供了毫無(wú)根據(jù)且風(fēng)險(xiǎn)很大的法律建議。王說(shuō),孫和弗里德伯格都指示他在本票上簽字。
這可能是一項(xiàng)更廣泛戰(zhàn)略的一部分,目的是進(jìn)行律師建議辯護(hù),也就是說(shuō),班克曼-弗里德和他的副手們是根據(jù)所謂的不當(dāng)法律指導(dǎo)行事的。
除了王愿意以個(gè)人名義為班克曼-弗里德承擔(dān)數(shù)億美元的債務(wù)之外,他在作證的第三天,也是最后一天,還對(duì)自己在FTX的最后日子做了非常準(zhǔn)確的描述。
他說(shuō),他在11月17日主動(dòng)與檢察官會(huì)面,當(dāng)時(shí)距離這家加密貨幣交易所申請(qǐng)破產(chǎn)還不到一周。王、他的律師和政府加快討論進(jìn)程,他于12月19日與司法部簽署了一項(xiàng)合作協(xié)議。
周二下午,他離開(kāi)了證人席。按計(jì)劃,下一位證人是Alameda Research前首席執(zhí)行官卡洛琳·埃里森(Caroline Ellison),她也同意與政府合作。(財(cái)富中文網(wǎng))
譯者:中慧言-王芳
Zixiao (Gary) Wang personally signed for hundreds of millions of dollars in loans when he was chief technology officer at the now-bankrupt crypto exchange FTX. Why? He couldn’t “recall,” he said during his third day of testimony in the blockbuster trial of former crypto mogul Sam Bankman-Fried.
Wang, who signed a cooperation agreement with the government to testify against Bankman-Fried, said that the former CEO of FTX had directed him to take out the loans from Alameda Research, the crypto hedge fund Bankman-Fried also owned. These were for “investments,” Wang said, but he couldn’t remember what most were for, other than some capital allocated for the purchase of LedgerX, which FTX bought in 2021.
Interest payments on the loans became so cumbersome, Wang added, that he took out yet another loan from Alameda Research for $1 million to cover those costs. (He spent $200,000 of that loan on a house in St. Kitts.)
After the defense and prosecution asked him questions about the considerable debt he took on from Alameda, Judge Lewis Kaplan, who is presiding over the trial, intervened. “Why’d you sign a bunch of loan documents when you didn’t know they were for?” he asked.
“Sam told me to, and I trusted him,” Wang responded, in reference to Bankman-Fried, whom he had originally met at a math camp in high school.
Lawyers for the former CEO of FTX drew out the discussion on loans in an apparent attempt to show that previous legal counsel for FTX, specifically Can Sun and Dan Friedberg, gave executives at the exchange unwarranted and risky legal advice, according to a filing Bankman-Fried’s lawyers filed on Monday night. Wang said that both Sun and Friedberg directed him to sign the promissory notes.
This is potentially part of a broader strategy to wage an advice-of-counsel defense, or that Bankman-Fried and his lieutenants acted on allegedly misplaced legal guidance.
In addition to Wang’s willingness to put himself personally on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars in debt on Bankman-Fried’s behalf, the third and final day of his testimony included the most precise account of his final days at FTX.
He said that he voluntarily met with prosecutors on Nov. 17, less than a week after the crypto exchange filed for bankruptcy. Discussions between Wang, his lawyers, and the government accelerated, and he signed a cooperation agreement with the Justice Department on Dec. 19.
He left the stand on Tuesday afternoon. The next scheduled witness was Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research who also agreed to cooperate with the government.