Ex-Alameda CEO says she, others plotted to use FTX customers' funds

Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Sam Bankman-Fried's trading firm Alameda Research, said she conspired with others to use billions of dollars of customers' funds from SBF's failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX ( FTT-USD ) while misleading lenders about the true nature of the companies' financial relationship . “I am truly sorry for what I did. I knew that it was wrong. And I want to apologize for my actions to the affected customers of FTX, lenders to Alameda and investors in FTX,” according to a transcript of her plea hearing on December 19 that was sealed until Friday, as quoted by the Associated Press. From 2019 through 2022, Alameda had access to a borrowing facility at FTX.com whereby the hedge fund maintained negative balances in a number of currencies, Ellison admitted. The former Alameda chief noted she agreed with SBF to keep secret from FTX customers, lenders and investors that Alameda had access to an unlimited credit line from FTX without the requirement of posting collateral and without owing interest on negative balances. That dynamic was never disclosed to FTX investors. Both Ellison and Gary Wang, the co-founder of FTX, pleaded guilty Wednesday to federal criminal fraud charges and are cooperating with the Southern District as prosecutors build their case against SBF. “While I was co-CEO and then CEO, I understood that Alameda had made numerous large illiquid venture investments and had lent money to Mr. Bankman-Fried and other FTX executives,” Ellison swore, adding that the investments were financed with short-term and open-term loans worth several billion dollars from lenders across the crypto space. “I understood that FTX would need to use customer funds to finance its loans to Alameda,” she said. On Thursday, Bankman-Fried was released on a $250M bond and a day later was spotted at his parents' home in Palo Alto, California .