Sam Bankman-Fried. Source: Screenshot of a video, Forbes / YouTube(*3*)Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founder of the collapsed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, will plead not guilty to fraud and other charges against him in his next arraignment.(*3*) According to a Wall Street Journal report, citing a person familiar with the matter, Bankman-Fried is expected to plead not guilty in Manhattan on Tuesday, January 3. (*3*) The plea of not guilty was widely expected as it is quite normal for defendants to initially plead not guilty. Defendants are free to modify their guilty plea later.(*3*) As reported, Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas earlier this month after US prosecutors filed criminal charges against him. After an uncertain week, the crypto boss was finally extradited to the United States to face a litany of criminal charges.(*3*)The Southern District of New York, which is investigating Bankman-Fried and the collapse of FTX and its sister trading company Alameda, charged SBF with eight counts, including wire fraud and conspiracy to embezzle client funds. . Separately, the Securities and Exchange Commission accused SBF of "orchestrating a scheme to defraud investors in FTX shares."(*3*) Before his arrest, SBF attributed the nearly €10 billion hole in FTX funds to careless record-keeping and a bank account issue that allowed Alameda Research, a trading affiliate, to cover significant losses. with the money of FTX users. (*3*)SBF, who invited the BBC to his Bahamas mansion, told the media that he had not committed fraud. “I did not knowingly commit fraud, I do not believe I committed fraud, I did not want it to happen. He certainly wasn't as competent as he thought he was,” he said a few days before he was arrested. . (*3*)Last week, former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison agreed to plead guilty to seven counts, including charges of wire fraud, securities fraud and money laundering. Similarly, Gary Wang, the former CTO of FTX, has pleaded guilty to criminal charges. The two are cooperating with federal investigators.(*3*) As of now, SBF is under house arrest at the Bankman-Fried family home in Palo Alto. He was released from jail last week after posting $250 million bail in a New York court.(*3*)Notably, SBF has also been charged with conspiring to defraud the United States and violating campaign finance laws. Prosecutors allege that SBF defrauded the Federal Election Commission beginning in 2020 by conspiring with others to make illegal contributions to candidates. (*3*) The former FTX CEO was the second-biggest donor to the Democratic Party, after billionaire George Soros, in the 2021-2022 election cycle, donating €39,884,256 to the Democrats. Elon Musk even suggested that he could have donated up to a billion dollars to the Democrats.(*two*)