Secret Recording Reveals Bankman-Fried's Plot to Use Chinese Bribes, Thai Prostitutes to Save His Company

Secret audio from a former Alameda Research employee complicates Sam reveals that after FTX collapsed, his ex-girlfriend Caroline Ellison admits some decisions were "Sam's.” Ellison testified over multiple days and provided an insider perspective as a close advisor and romantic partner of Bankman-Fried. She described financial documents as "dishonest" and stated key decisions came from Bankman-Fried. Ellison testified about moving $100 million to Chinese accounts, which she believed to be a bribe to unfreeze funds. She also described a failed scheme to use "Thai prostitutes" accounts to drain funds from China. Ellison and Bankman-Fried both face decades in prison if convicted, and she has pleaded guilty already to cooperate with prosecutors for a lighter sentence.