{"id":2056868,"date":"2023-10-05T16:50:02","date_gmt":"2023-10-05T20:50:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/sam-bankman-frieds-onetime-roommate-gary-wang-takes-stand-at-trial\/"},"modified":"2023-10-05T16:51:37","modified_gmt":"2023-10-05T20:51:37","slug":"sam-bankman-frieds-onetime-roommate-gary-wang-takes-stand-at-trial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/sam-bankman-frieds-onetime-roommate-gary-wang-takes-stand-at-trial\/","title":{"rendered":"Gary Wang, former roommate of Sam Bankman-Fried, testifies at trial."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fsam-bankman-frieds-onetime-roommate-gary-wang-takes-stand-at-trial%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2056868&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p><!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC \"-\/\/W3C\/\/DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional\/\/EN\" \"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/TR\/REC-html40\/loose.dtd\"><br \/>\n<?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><html><body><\/p>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p>By\u00a0Luc \u2063Cohen<\/p>\n<p>October\u2064 5, 2023 \u200c\u2013 \u200b1:15 PM PDT<\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1663871513696-art-2\" style=\"min-width: 320px; min-height: 50px; text-align: center;\">  \t<script>  \t\tgoogletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1663871513696-art-2'); });  \t<\/script>  <\/div>\n<div class=\"ad-slot__ad-label\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<\/p>\n<p><strong>NEW YORK, Oct 5\u2063 (Reuters)<\/strong> \u2013 Sam\u2062 Bankman-Fried\u2019s college roommate and \u200dex-colleague at the now-bankrupt FTX cryptocurrency exchange, \u200dGary Wang, took \u200bthe stand at the 31-year-old former billionaire\u2019s fraud trial\u200d on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>Wang, FTX\u2019s former chief technology officer, is \u200bthe first of three former\u200c close\u2064 associates of \u2062Bankman-Fried to testify at the trial, which began on Tuesday. All three have pleaded guilty to fraud \u2064charges and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.<\/p>\n<p>Bankman-Fried\u2019s \u2062trial kicked off nearly a year after FTX froze\u2063 customer withdrawals and declared bankruptcy in a dramatic collapse\u2063 that shocked financial markets and left its founder\u2019s reputation in \u2063tatters.<\/p>\n<p>Federal prosecutors in Manhattan say Bankman-Fried stole billions of dollars in FTX customer deposits to plug losses at his hedge fund, Alameda Research,\u2063 buy real\u2063 estate and\u200b donate to U.S. political candidates.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll that was left in FTX was what amounted to an IOU from Alameda,\u201d prosecutor Thane Rehn said in \u200dhis opening statement on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty. His lawyer,\u2063 Mark \u200bCohen, said in his opening statement that cooperating witnesses like Wang may be \u201cspinning things\u2062 that Sam said and did at\u200b the time that were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/sam-bankman-frieds-onetime-roommate-gary-wang-takes-stand-at-trial\/\" title=\"Gary Wang, former roommate of Sam Bankman-Fried, testifies at trial.\">good-faith business\u2063 decisions<\/a> that they themselves were fine with\u201d as \u201csinister\u201d in hindsight.<\/p>\n<p>Wang and \u200cBankman-Fried met at \u2064a math camp in high school\u2064 and later \u200bbecame roommates at the\u2063 Massachusetts Institute \u2063of Technology. They were also among 10 FTX\u200d and Alameda employees who lived together in\u2063 a $35 \u2064million penthouse apartment \u2064in the Bahamas,\u200b where FTX was based.<\/p>\n<p>In pleading guilty last December, \u2062Wang said he was directed to \u2064make\u200b changes to FTX\u2019s software code to give Alameda special privileges on the trading platform, \u200bwhile being\u200b aware that others were telling investors \u200cand customers that Alameda had no such privileges.<\/p>\n<p>Wang did not specify at\u200d the time who gave him those directions, but prosecutors say it was Bankman-Fried.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier this week, jurors heard from Adam Yedidia, a former FTX computer programmer who reported\u200c to Wang and\u2062 was also friends\u2063 with\u2063 Bankman-Fried at MIT.<\/p>\n<p>Yedidia said that \u2063in fixing \u200can error\u200c in FTX\u2019s code in June 2022, he saw that Alameda owed FTX $8 billion. The debt had arisen\u2063 because the exchange could \u200bnot open its\u200c own bank \u2063accounts and had instructed\u200d FTX\u2019s users to\u200b wire money to\u200d Alameda, \u2063he said.<\/p>\n<p>But Yedidia grew concerned that the debt was too \u200clarge, and asked Bankman-Fried \u2062about it while playing padel\u200c tennis at their Bahamas apartment complex. He \u200bsaid Bankman-Fried appeared \u2062worried as well.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSam said something like, \u2064\u2018we were bulletproof last year, but we\u2019re \u200cnot bulletproof this year,&#8217;\u201d Yedidia testified \u2064on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>At the trial on \u200cThursday,\u200c Bankman-Fried took a break from typing on a laptop\u200c on\u2063 the defense table in \u200bfront of him to look \u2062up at Yedidia as \u200bhe walked \u2064by before testifying. Yedidia did not turn to look at him.<\/p>\n<p>The defendant\u2019s parents, \u200cthe Stanford\u200c Law School professors\u2063 Joseph Bankman and Barbara\u200b Fried, took notes on a yellow legal pad that\u200d they passed back and forth to\u2062 each other as Yedidia\u200b testified.<\/p>\n<p>Other \u2062cooperating\u200c witnesses set to testify include Nishad Singh, FTX\u2019s\u2062 former\u200c engineering chief, and Caroline\u2064 Ellison, Alameda\u2019s former chief executive officer and Bankman-Fried\u2019s on-and-off girlfriend.<\/p>\n<p>(This \u2062story has been refiled to correct day to Thursday \u2064instead \u200cof \u2063Friday in paragraph 1)<\/p>\n<p>Reporting by \u200bLuc Cohen in New York \u200bEditing by Amy\u2064 Stevens\u200b and\u200d Matthew Lewis<\/p>\n<\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1663871513696-art-3\" style=\"min-width: 320px; min-height: 50px; text-align: center;\">  \t<script>  \t\tgoogletag.cmd.push(function() { googletag.display('div-gpt-ad-1663871513696-art-3'); });  \t<\/script>  <\/div>\n<div class=\"ad-slot__ad-label\">Advertisement<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p>A \u2062new \u2063survey shows a\u200b majority of\u200c Democrats believe restricting freedom of speech as Republicans look to protect the First Amendment.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p>In the second part\u200d of an exclusive interview, Montana \u200dCongressman Matt Rosendale who was one \u2062of the eight to vote out Kevin McCarthy as\u200d speaker, says that we could\u200b see up to a \u200dhalf dozen of his colleagues throw their names out for the office.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p>One America\u2019s Jessamyn Dodd and\u00a0California congressional candidate Christine Bish discuss disability legislation and\u2063 the Fentanyl crisis.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p>Congressman Matt Rosendale says\u2063 why \u200dhe voted to\u200c oust speaker Kevin McCarthy. One America\u2019s John Hines has more\u200b from Capitol Hill.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p>Sam Bankman-Fried\u2019s college roommate and ex-colleague at FTX took the stand at the former billionaire\u2019s \u2062fraud\u2064 trial on Thursday.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p>Meta\u200b is planning\u2064 to lay off employees on Wednesday \u2064in the unit of its metaverse-oriented Reality \u200cLabs division focused on creating custom silicon<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p>Sam Bankman-Fried\u2019s fraud trial got under way with jury \u2064selection \u2062on\u200d Tuesday, nearly a\u200b year after\u200b his now-bankrupt \u2062cryptocurrency exchange\u2019s\u00a0collapse.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"entry-content\">\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/the-crypto-market-bears-the-scars-of-ftxs-collapse\/\" title=\"FTX's collapse left lasting scars on the crypto market.\">global cryptocurrency market remains badly scarred<\/a> following the tumultuous\u200b collapse of crypto exchange FTX and other big players last year<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p> \u200d rnrn  <\/p>\n<h2> What \u200crole did Gary Wang\u2064 play at FTX cryptocurrency exchange and how does\u200d his testimony impact Sam Bankman-Fried&#8217;s fraud trial?<\/h2>\n<p><span>  New York, Oct 5 \u200d(Reuters) \u200d- Sam Bankman-Fried&#8217;s college roommate and ex-colleague at the now-bankrupt\u2063 FTX cryptocurrency exchange, \u200cGary Wang, took\u200c the stand\u200b at the 31-year-old former billionaire&#8217;s fraud trial on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>Wang, FTX&#8217;s former chief technology officer, is the first of three former\u2062 close associates \u2064of Bankman-Fried to testify at the trial, which began on Tuesday. All three\u2064 have pleaded guilty to fraud charges and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.<\/p>\n<p>Bankman-Fried&#8217;s trial kicked off nearly a year after FTX \u2064froze customer withdrawals and declared bankruptcy in a dramatic collapse that shocked financial markets and\u200d left its founder&#8217;s reputation in tatters.<\/p>\n<p>Federal\u200d prosecutors in Manhattan say\u200b Bankman-Fried stole billions of dollars in FTX customer deposits to \u2062plug losses at his hedge fund, Alameda Research, buy real\u2063 estate, \u2063and \u2063donate to U.S. political candidates.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;All \u2062that was left in FTX\u200b was\u2062 what amounted to an IOU from Alameda,&#8221; prosecutor Thane Rehn said in his opening statement\u200b on Wednesday.<\/p>\n<p>Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty. His lawyer, Mark Cohen, said in his\u2063 opening statement that\u200c cooperating witnesses like Wang may be &#8220;spinning\u2064 things that\u200d Sam said and did at the time that were good-faith business decisions that they themselves were fine with&#8221; as &#8220;sinister&#8221; in hindsight.<\/p>\n<p>Wang and Bankman-Fried met\u2062 at \u2064a math camp in high school and later \u200cbecame roommates at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. They were also among 10 FTX and Alameda employees who lived together\u2062 in a $35 million penthouse apartment in the Bahamas, where FTX was based.<\/p>\n<p>In pleading guilty last December, Wang said he was directed to make changes \u2062to FTX&#8217;s software code to give Alameda special privileges on the trading platform, while being \u2063aware that\u2064 others were telling investors and customers that Alameda\u2062 had no such privileges.<\/p>\n<p>Wang did not specify at the time who gave him \u2064those \u200cdirections, but prosecutors \u200bsay it was Bankman-Fried.<\/p>\n<p>Earlier\u2064 this week, jurors heard from Adam Yedidia, a\u200c former FTX computer programmer\u200d who reported to\u2063 Wang\u2062 and was also friends with Bankman-Fried at MIT.<\/p>\n<p>Yedidia said that in fixing \u200can \u2063error in FTX&#8217;s code in\u2062 June 2022, he saw that Alameda owed FTX $8 billion. The debt had arisen because the exchange could not open its own bank accounts and had instructed FTX&#8217;s users\u200c to wire money to Alameda, he\u200c said.<\/p>\n<p>But Yedidia grew concerned that the debt was too large and asked\u2063 Bankman-Fried about it while playing padel tennis at their Bahamas apartment \u2062complex. \u2063He\u200d said Bankman-Fried appeared worried \u2063as well.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Sam said something\u200c like, &#8216;we were bulletproof\u200b last year, but we&#8217;re not bulletproof \u200cthis year,'&#8221; \u2063Yedidia testified on Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>At the trial on\u200c Thursday, Bankman-Fried \u2062took\u2064 a break from typing on a laptop on the defense table \u2063in front of him\u2062 to look up<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Sam Bankman-Fried&#8217;s ex-colleague, Gary Wang, testified at the fraud trial of the former billionaire. Wang, who was FTX&#8217;s former chief technology officer, was the first of three close associates to take the stand.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1911,"featured_media":2056869,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[542],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2056868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-oann"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2056868","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1911"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2056868"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2056868\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2056869"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2056868"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2056868"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2056868"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}