Sam Bankman-Fried says unlikely to testify in Dec 13 House Committee hearing

Sam Bankman-Fried, the former chief executive of FTX, indicated on Sunday that he is unlikely to testify in the upcoming U.S. House committee’s hearing on the collapse of his crypto exchange, saying he is still “learning and reviewing what happened.”

In a tweet to the Financial Services Committee Chair Maxine Waters and the committee, Bankman-Fried, who has been alleged to misappropriate customer funds, suggested he will testify at a later time.

The U.S. House Financial Services Committee announced last month that it plans to hold a hearing in December to investigate the collapse of the crypto exchange FTX, which before the implosion was one of the world’s largest. The committee said it expected to hear from the companies and individuals involved, including FTX founder Bankman-Fried, Alameda Research and Binance. Waters said earlier this month that the hearing has been scheduled for December 13.

The U.S. authorities’ lethargic pace at its probe into FTX and its leaders has frustrated many entrepreneurs and crypto investors who believe that Bankman-Fried, who has been alleged to have misappropriated billions of dollars from customers, is getting away with one of the largest frauds in history with little to no scrutiny.

The move follows Bankman-Fried, once a celebrated billionaire in the crypto ecosystem, giving a range of interviews to media outlets and on Crypto Twitter where he has consistently asserted that he did not have enough knowledge about the loans FTX financed to affiliated trading firm Alameda Research — or any improper use of customer funds.

Reuters reported last month that Bankman-Fried secretly transferred $10 billion in FTX client funds to Alameda Research. Bankman-Fried told the publication that the transfer of the funds was a misreading of the “confusing internal labeling.”

FTX filed for bankruptcy last month and stepped down as its chief executive.

Newly appointed FTX chief executive John Ray said in a filing last month that “in his 40 years of legal and restructuring experience,” he had never seen “such a complete failure of corporate controls and such a complete absence of trustworthy financial information as occurred here.” Ray formerly served as chief executive of Enron after the implosion of the energy titan.