(CNN) — Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of failed cryptocurrency trading platform FTX, pleaded not guilty to five new federal charges of fraud and conspiracy, including one count of conspiring to bribe Chinese government officials. He previously pleaded not guilty to eight other charges stemming from what prosecutors have described as one of the biggest financial frauds in US history. The accounts, which the Chinese government had frozen, held more than $1 billion worth of digital assets, prosecutors say. The 31-year-old Bankman-Fried is out of jail on a $250 million bond, awaiting trial under house arrest at his parents’ home in Palo Alto, California. Three of Bankman-Fried’s former business partners — Gary Wang, Caroline Ellison and Nishad Singh — have pleaded guilty to numerous charges and are cooperating with investigators.

Source: CNN March 31, 2023 01:21 UTC