2024-09-25
Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research, played a central role in the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
Alameda Research was a crypto hedge fund that was closely tied to
FTX. Ellison was a key figure in the mismanagement of funds, as she and other
FTX executives, including Sam Bankman-Fried, were accused of using customer
deposits from FTX to cover Alameda's risky investments and financial losses.
On September 24, 2024, Caroline
Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research and a key figure in the FTX fraud
case, has been sentenced to two years in prison by Judge Lewis Kaplan in the
District Court of Southern New York.
Ellison played a significant role in
the $11 billion fraud scheme involving FTX and its founder, Sam Bankman-Fried.
Ellison’s cooperation with prosecutors was crucial in securing Bankman-Fried’s
conviction.
Ellison’s lawyers had asked the court
to spare her from prison, highlighting her extensive cooperation with
prosecutors. Her lawyers filed a sentencing memo on September 10, 2024, detailing her
pivotal role in helping uncover crimes related to the collapse of FTX.
The judge said the FTX case is the
greatest financial fraud in the history of the U.S., and because of that a
“literal get-out-of-jail-free card I can’t agree to,” Kaplan said.
