Crypto trading firm Alameda Research's former CEO, who's also the ex-girlfriend of disgraced FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried, faces a maximum sentence of 110 years in prison after striking a plea deal with the Department of Justice.
A Dec. 18 plea agreement with prosecutors in the Southern District of New York said Caroline Ellison faces seven charges that collectively carry a maximum prison sentence of 110 years.
FTX co-founder Gary Wang, who also worked with Bankman-Fried and Ellison at Alameda Research, pleaded guilty to four charges including wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and conspiracy to commit commodities and securities fraud, the U.S. attorney announced.
Wang, 29, faces a maximum sentence of 50 years in prison.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams announced the charges and plea deals with Ellison and Wang via a video posted on Twitter late Wednesday.
"We are far from done," said Williams, who added that more announcements regarding the FTX investigation would be forthcoming.
The charges against Ellison, 28, include conspiracy to commit wire fraud, securities fraud, commodities fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Ellison agreed to waive any defenses to the charges, and agreed to make restitution, the amount of which will be determined by the courts.
As part of her plea deal, Ellison must cooperate fully with prosecutors, the FBI, and any other law enforcement agencies. She also must provide records and evidence, and testify to a grand jury or at court trials when requested.
Bankman-Fried was expected to appear before a U.S. court on Thursday after being extradited from The Bahamas, where he had remained since the collapse of his now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange.
Bankman-Fried, 30, was arrested last week in the Bahamas, where he lived and where FTX is based, after federal prosecutors in Manhattan charged him with stealing billions of dollars in FTX customer assets to plug losses at his hedge fund, Alameda Research.
The Securities and Exchange Commission accused Bankman-Fried of illegally using investors' money to fund Alameda and buy real estate on behalf of himself and his family. He's also charged with wire fraud, money laundering, and campaign finance charges, the New York Post reported.
Reuters contributed to this story.
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