FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty at a hearing held on Thursday at the Southern District of New York District Court to five new federal charges of fraud concerning the downfall of his crypto exchange company.
The charges dispute that Bankman-Fried issued a payment in cryptocurrency worth $40 million to at least one Chinese government official in an effort to bribe them to unfreeze accounts belonging to his hedge fund Alameda Research that Beijing previously suspended.
Bankman-Fried previously pleaded not guilty to charges of fraud alleging he misled investors and customers.