FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried Defends Corporate Message Deletions in Private Testimony
Summary:
In an exclusive testimony, FTX's beleaguered founder Sam Bankman-Fried attempted to justify his decision to delete corporate messages on the encrypted messaging app Signal. He claimed he had approval from FTX's legal advisor to use the app for corporate communication but admitted he didn't seek prior consent to use its auto-delete function. When questioned about deleting specific messages, SBF argued that the 2021 document retention policy only applied to emails. He also voiced concerns about comments being misinterpreted or causing embarrassment.
During an exclusive testimony on Oct 26, Sam Bankman-Fried, the infamous FTX founder, made an attempt to justify his reasons for erasing company messages. The questioning was done by Danielle Sassoon, a prosecutor from the Southern District of New York, who questioned his use of the encrypted messaging platform Signal for business communications. SBF stated that this move happened solely with the consent of Daniel Friedberg, FTX's legal advisor. But he also admitted that he turned on the auto-delete feature in the application without seeking prior approval.
He said, "At some point I recollect adjusting my settings to auto delete after a week," stating this was a normal procedure since 2021. Sassoon enquired whether he got an approval to do so and SBF said no. He rationalized his action by pointing out that the document retention policy from 2021, approved by Friedberg, only covered emails and excluded other modes of communication.
Sassoon continued to grill him on his decision-making process by asking whether he got consent to remove his messages with Caroline Ellison, Gary Wang, and Nishad Singh. SBF responded with a simple "Not expressly". He expressed regret over not having the document retention policy at his disposal.
On the topic of correspondence revolving around the fabricated balance sheets by Ellison, SBF stated the deletion of the message was allowable as there were no requirements for verbal conversations to be documented. When confronted about an alleged $13 billion shortfall in the company's balance sheets, SBF stated that these messages were not communicated with the legal team, aligning with the organization’s data conservation policy. He expressed apprehension over the possibility of his comments being misunderstood or creating awkward situations.
In related news, Sam Bankman-Fried previously asserted that it was lawful to transfer FTX deposits via Alameda.
Published At
10/26/2023 8:08:05 PM
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