Damian Williams

Sam Bankman-Fried’s legal defense tried to convince a judge “nothing improper or impermissible occurred” last week when the disgraced crypto founder leaked former Alameda Research CEO and on-again-off-again girlfriend Caroline Ellison’s personal diary to The New York Times. The former FTX CEO’s defense says the leaked documents weren’t intended to “discredit a witness,” as the DOJ alleges, but was instead an attempt to respond to a “toxic media environment” he complains constantly casts him as a villain.Sam Bankman-Fried…

Department of Justice prosecutors believe disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried leaked the diary of his sometimes girlfriend and business partner Caroline Ellison in an effort to “discredit a witness.” The contents of the 27-year-old Alameda research CEO’s private Google Docs were recently published in a New York Times article which includes entries of Ellison discussing her contentious relationship with SBF and admitting she felt unqualified to lead the company.Sam Bankman-Fried Using a VPN, McDonald’s AI Drive Thru…

A 61-year-old Canadian man who acted as a mentor to Silk Road founder Ross Ulbricht has been sentenced to 20 years in prison. Ulbricht’s confidant, known publicly by his online pseudonyms “Variety Jones” and “Mongoose” advocated in favor of a hired hitman and reportedly helped Ulbricht see “a larger vision” for the now defunct Darknet drug marketplace, according to a press release by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.Teyonah Parris and John Boyega on Working With Jamie Foxx | io9…

A chapter of internet history has come to a close. One of the cybercriminals behind 2020's major Twitter hack was sentenced to five years in U.S. federal prison on Friday. Joseph O’Connor (AKA “PlugwalkJoe”), a 24-year-old British citizen, previously pleaded guilty to seven charges associated with the digital attack. He was arrested in Spain in 2021 and extradited to the U.S. in April of this year.He Tossed His Bitcoin, Now He Wants It BackIn addition to the five years of jail time, O’Connor was also sentenced to three…

Federal prosecutors and the courts in New York are sounding the horn, proclaiming run-of-the-mill financial crimes also apply to digital tokens as much as fiat currency. On Tuesday, a judge finally sentenced former Coinbase product manager Ishan Wahi to two years in prison for insider trading. Prosecutors said Wahi used his privileged position within the crypto exchange to help his brother and another friend buy and sell crypto based on his insight into the whirlwind speculative market that is cryptocurrencies.Crypto…

The trial against ex-OpenSea product manager Nathaniel Chastain is set to begin later this week, nearly a year since he was arrested in New York City for wire fraud. Chastain’s arrest came on the tail-end of an FBI investigation into his non-fungible tokens (NFT) dealings, which alleged he had secretly bought NFTs and resold them for two to five times their original value.What Motivated Simone Giertz To Build Her Own Tesla Pickup Truck? | Gizmodo TalksProsecutors claim Chastain used the business information at OpenSea to…

After allegedly lying her way into a $175 million deal with JPMorgan to purchase her student loan startup Frank, former CEO Charlie Javice has officially been charged with fraud by the U.S. Department of Justice.What Was Your First Experience with Super Mario Bros? | io9 InterviewAccording to a release from the DOJ, the 31-year-old former CEO of Frank—a startup that helped college students fill out their confusing student loan forms—was arrested last night in New Jersey. Javice is officially being charged with one count…

A Minnesota man was sentenced to three years in prison on Thursday for illegally streaming major league sports content to outside third parties. Joshua Streit, also known as Joshua Brody, was arrested in 2021 after an investigation found he had hacked into a Major League Baseball system and attempted to extort $150,000 from the organization.According to the filing, after hacking the Major League Baseballdatabase and communicating with employees, “Streit claimed he knew MLB reporters who were “interested in the story,”…

Sam Bankman-Fried, far left, was last in court Feb. 9. Prosecutors were concerned the failed FTX founder has been trying to communicate with encrypted messaging apps like Signal.Photo: Michael M. Santiago (Getty Images)Federal prosecutors are squinting pretty hard, trying to keep an eye on what the failed FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has been doing while he’s been ordered by the court to live under his parents’ roof. The young crypto founder has reportedly been accessing the internet using a VPN, and the U.S. Attorneys…

A U.S. District Judge sentenced Nikhil Wahi to 10 months in prison on Tuesday, bringing one part of a historic cryptocurrency criminal case to a close. Wahi, the brother of a former Coinbase product manager, was charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud last July in what prosecutors called the “first ever cryptocurrency insider trading case.”“I made a huge mistake, a terrible mistake,” Wahi said Tuesday. Nikhil pleaded guilty to that charge in September, admitting that his brother, Ishan Wahi, used his position at one…