Sam Bankman-Fried’s Closest Friends Become His Foes in Courtroom Clash

When Sam Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency alternate collapsed in November, certainly one of his oldest mates despatched him a message of help.

“I love you, Sam,” mentioned Adam Yedidia, a university classmate of Mr. Bankman-Fried’s who went on to work for him on the alternate, FTX. “I am not going anywhere. Don’t worry.”

Within days, Mr. Yedidia had resigned from FTX. And final week, at Mr. Bankman-Fried’s fraud trial in federal court docket in Manhattan, Mr. Yedidia confirmed as much as testify for the prosecution, and recounted the dialog to the jury.

Mr. Bankman-Fried’s trial has supplied a vivid window into one of the crucial dramatic company collapses in current historical past, a $10 billion implosion that touched the worlds of Washington politics, Wall Street finance and Silicon Valley investing. But the case additionally has a deeply private undercurrent: the speedy unraveling of an in depth social group that has ended up pitting good friend in opposition to good friend.

At FTX’s headquarters within the Bahamas, Mr. Bankman-Fried lived and labored with an internal circle of greater than half a dozen mates, together with a former lover, a confidant from highschool math camp and a childhood buddy of his youthful brother. At least 4 of these allies have turned in opposition to him and agreed to cooperate with the federal government, after both pleading responsible or receiving immunity from prosecution.

In the courtroom, the private dynamics between Mr. Bankman-Fried and his mates have turn out to be a significant part of the case. Prosecutors have proven pictures of Mr. Bankman-Fried socializing with Mr. Yedidia and different onetime confidants, searching for to attract out testimony concerning the relationships on the coronary heart of FTX. On the witness stand, Mr. Bankman-Fried’s previous allies have principally prevented taking a look at him.

“You can anticipate that at closing, this is one of the things that the United States is going to harp on: These were people who were close personal friends of S.B.F.,” mentioned Daniel Silva, a former federal prosecutor. “It immediately establishes their credibility as someone who was there when it happened.”

Mr. Bankman-Fried, 31, is charged with orchestrating an enormous conspiracy to siphon as a lot as $10 billion from FTX’s buyer accounts to finance political contributions, actual property purchases and different lavish spending. He has pleaded not responsible to seven counts of fraud, conspiracy and cash laundering, and faces what would quantity to a life sentence if convicted.

So far, three members of his internal circle — Mr. Yedidia, the FTX co-founder Gary Wang and Mr. Bankman-Fried’s former girlfriend, Caroline Ellison — have testified in opposition to him. At least one different ally — the FTX government Nishad Singh, a childhood good friend of Mr. Bankman-Fried’s youthful brother, Gabe — is slated to testify.

Mr. Bankman-Fried is hardly the primary defendant to have shut associates activate him. But not often has a gaggle as tightknit as FTX’s management dissolved so shortly, and the sheer variety of mates turned foes stands out, authorized consultants mentioned.

Former associates typically play a key position in organized-crime circumstances, however “to have those kinds of close relationships — former girlfriend, a former best friend — is not as typical,” mentioned Paul Tuchmann, an ex-prosecutor who now works in non-public follow.

By most accounts, Mr. Bankman-Fried by no means had many mates, even earlier than FTX’s fall turned him into a world pariah. But as an undergraduate on the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, he grew to become hooked up to a few of his roommates in a gaggle home for Epsilon Theta, a fraternity that attracted a nerdy set of scholars, together with Mr. Yedidia and Mr. Wang.

Mr. Bankman-Fried ultimately employed Mr. Yedidia to work as a developer at FTX. They lived collectively in a five-bedroom penthouse within the Bahamas, the place Mr. Yedidia was joined by his fiancée, Andrea Lincoln, whom Mr. Bankman-Fried additionally employed.

During Mr. Yedidia’s testimony, prosecutors confirmed the jury {a photograph} of him and Mr. Bankman-Fried consuming collectively. They have been shut sufficient that Mr. Bankman-Fried confided in Mr. Yedidia about his on-and-off relationship with Ms. Ellison, who was chief government of FTX’s sister hedge fund, Alameda Research.

“The defendant told me that he and Caroline had had sex and asked if it was a good idea for them to date,” Mr. Yedidia testified. “I said no.”

Mr. Yedidia mentioned he had resigned from FTX after a colleague informed him that Alameda had used FTX buyer funds to repay its collectors. He began working with the federal government as early as December, and obtained immunity from prosecution in alternate for his testimony.

He was not the final to leap ship.

On Wednesday, Ms. Ellison testified that she had begun cooperating with federal prosecutors after the Federal Bureau of Investigation raided her mother and father’ dwelling, seizing digital units and her journal. She has pleaded responsible to fraud and conspiracy.

Over eight hours on the witness stand this week, Ms. Ellison recounted intimate particulars of her relationship with Mr. Bankman-Fried. They began sleeping collectively within the fall of 2018, she mentioned, after which dated formally for components of 2020, 2021 and 2022. During tense intervals, they exchanged lengthy Google paperwork discussing facets of their turbulent relationship.

“I sort of wanted more,” Ms. Ellison testified, “but often felt like he was distant or not paying attention to me.”

Partly due to her proximity to Mr. Bankman-Fried, she mentioned, she internalized a few of his attitudes about danger, and have become comfy mendacity to enterprise companions and the general public, although she knew it was improper.

Mr. Wang, who met Mr. Bankman-Fried at a math camp in highschool, has additionally pleaded responsible. He testified that the FTX founder had instructed him and Mr. Singh to create a secret backdoor within the alternate’s code that allowed just about limitless quantities of buyer cash to be transferred to Alameda.

Mr. Wang additionally recounted conversations wherein he questioned Mr. Bankman-Fried concerning the cash Alameda was borrowing.

“I wasn’t sure which interpretation was correct, and I trusted his judgment,” Mr. Wang mentioned.

His testimony reached an emotional climax when prosecutors introduced {a photograph} of him posing with Mr. Bankman-Fried at M.I.T. The picture reveals Mr. Wang smiling, with Mr. Bankman-Fried subsequent to him in a navy blue Epsilon Theta T-shirt.

The image was projected to the gallery, the place Mr. Bankman-Fried’s mother and father have sat on daily basis of his trial. When she noticed the picture, his mom, Barbara Fried, put her head in her arms and stifled a sob.

Matthew Goldstein contributed reporting.