Sam Bankman-Fried Pleads Not Guilty as Trial Is Set for October

Prosecutors have accused him of stealing billions of dollars of customer funds from FTX and of defrauding investors and lenders to his trading firm, Alameda Research. He also evaded campaign-finance contribution limits and reporting requirements when he made millions of dollars in illegal political contributions funded by Alameda, prosecutors said.

Mr. Bankman-Fried has previously said he didn’t intend to commit fraud but has acknowledged making mistakes while running the company.

The former chief executive, who is being detained at his parents’ California home but returned to New York for the hearing, sat at the defense table between his lawyers, who entered the plea on his behalf. Assistant U.S. Attorney

Danielle Sassoon

told the judge the October trial would last about four weeks, while

Mark Cohen,

a lawyer for Mr. Bankman-Fried, estimated it would last from two to three weeks.

Judge Kaplan set the next court hearing for May 18.

Two of Mr. Bankman-Fried’s associates,

Caroline Ellison

and

Gary Wang,

pleaded guilty to related charges last month and are cooperating with prosecutors’ investigation into the alleged scheme.

Damian Williams,

the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said Tuesday that his office had formed an FTX task force, drawing on prosecutors from multiple units, including those focused on securities fraud, public corruption and money laundering. Mr. Williams said his office “is working around the clock to respond to the implosion of FTX.”

In December, Mr. Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas and, after consenting to extradition, flown to New York.

During his first appearance in federal court last month, a magistrate judge released him on a $250 million bond, which was secured by his parents’ home in Stanford, Calif., where he was ordered detained while awaiting trial.

While Mr. Bankman-Fried wasn’t required to deposit any money with the court, if he were to fail to appear in court, the government could move to seize his parents’ property.

The judge required that Mr. Bankman-Fried’s parents and one nonfamily member co-sign the $250 million bond and that two additional people sign other bonds in lesser amounts.

In a letter Tuesday, lawyers for Mr. Bankman-Fried asked Judge Kaplan to order that the names of the sureties, or signers of the lesser bonds, not be disclosed to the public.

The lawyers said that Mr. Bankman-Fried’s parents had been subjected to intense media scrutiny and threats.

“There is serious cause for concern that the two additional sureties would face similar intrusions on their privacy as well as threats and harassment if their names appear unredacted on their bonds or their identities are otherwise publicly disclosed,” the letter said.

Judge Kaplan granted the request, though said he would allow members of the media or others to contest the sealing of the information.

Ms. Sassoon, the prosecutor, asked the judge to impose an additional bond condition barring Mr. Bankman-Fried from transferring or accessing FTX and Alameda assets.

Mr. Cohen said his client hadn’t accessed those funds, echoing a point Mr. Bankman-Fried had made in a tweet last week.

“In terms of defendant’s tweet, that it was not him, we don’t put full stock in that,” Ms. Sassoon said.

Judge Kaplan granted prosecutors’ request.

—James Fanelli contributed to this article.

Write to Corinne Ramey at [email protected]

Prosecutors have accused him of stealing billions of dollars of customer funds from FTX and of defrauding investors and lenders to his trading firm, Alameda Research. He also evaded campaign-finance contribution limits and reporting requirements when he made millions of dollars in illegal political contributions funded by Alameda, prosecutors said.

Mr. Bankman-Fried has previously said he didn’t intend to commit fraud but has acknowledged making mistakes while running the company.

The former chief executive, who is being detained at his parents’ California home but returned to New York for the hearing, sat at the defense table between his lawyers, who entered the plea on his behalf. Assistant U.S. Attorney

Danielle Sassoon

told the judge the October trial would last about four weeks, while

Mark Cohen,

a lawyer for Mr. Bankman-Fried, estimated it would last from two to three weeks.

Judge Kaplan set the next court hearing for May 18.

Two of Mr. Bankman-Fried’s associates,

Caroline Ellison

and

Gary Wang,

pleaded guilty to related charges last month and are cooperating with prosecutors’ investigation into the alleged scheme.

Damian Williams,

the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said Tuesday that his office had formed an FTX task force, drawing on prosecutors from multiple units, including those focused on securities fraud, public corruption and money laundering. Mr. Williams said his office “is working around the clock to respond to the implosion of FTX.”

In December, Mr. Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas and, after consenting to extradition, flown to New York.

During his first appearance in federal court last month, a magistrate judge released him on a $250 million bond, which was secured by his parents’ home in Stanford, Calif., where he was ordered detained while awaiting trial.

While Mr. Bankman-Fried wasn’t required to deposit any money with the court, if he were to fail to appear in court, the government could move to seize his parents’ property.

The judge required that Mr. Bankman-Fried’s parents and one nonfamily member co-sign the $250 million bond and that two additional people sign other bonds in lesser amounts.

In a letter Tuesday, lawyers for Mr. Bankman-Fried asked Judge Kaplan to order that the names of the sureties, or signers of the lesser bonds, not be disclosed to the public.

The lawyers said that Mr. Bankman-Fried’s parents had been subjected to intense media scrutiny and threats.

“There is serious cause for concern that the two additional sureties would face similar intrusions on their privacy as well as threats and harassment if their names appear unredacted on their bonds or their identities are otherwise publicly disclosed,” the letter said.

Judge Kaplan granted the request, though said he would allow members of the media or others to contest the sealing of the information.

Ms. Sassoon, the prosecutor, asked the judge to impose an additional bond condition barring Mr. Bankman-Fried from transferring or accessing FTX and Alameda assets.

Mr. Cohen said his client hadn’t accessed those funds, echoing a point Mr. Bankman-Fried had made in a tweet last week.

“In terms of defendant’s tweet, that it was not him, we don’t put full stock in that,” Ms. Sassoon said.

Judge Kaplan granted prosecutors’ request.

—James Fanelli contributed to this article.

Write to Corinne Ramey at [email protected]