FTX's collapse is one of the largest corporate bankruptcies in history. The Department of Justice wants widespread allegations of "fraud, dishonesty, incompetence, misconduct and mismanagement" to be investigated. And yet somehow, Sam Bankman-Fried, the man behind the global crypto enterprise, announced Friday he will testify before Congress on Dec. 13.
"I still do not have access to much of my data -- professional or personal. So there is a limit to what I will be able to say, and I won't be as helpful as I'd like. But as the committee still thinks it would be useful, I am willing to testify on the 13th," he tweeted. "I will try to be helpful during the hearing, and to shed what light I can on: --FTX US's solvency and American customers --Pathways that could return value to users internationally --What I think led to the crash --My own failings."
2) I will try to be helpful during the hearing, and to shed what light I can on:
— SBF (@SBF_FTX) December 9, 2022
--FTX US's solvency and American customers
--Pathways that could return value to users internationally
--What I think led to the crash
--My own failings
3) I had thought of myself as a model CEO, who wouldn't become lazy or disconnected.
— SBF (@SBF_FTX) December 9, 2022
Which made it that much more destructive when I did.
I'm sorry. Hopefully people can learn from the difference between who I was and who I could have been.
Given the legal trouble facing SBF, that decision is "highly unusual," said Marc Litt, the prosecutor who put Bernie Madoff behind bars for running the largest Ponzi scheme in history.
"It's highly unusual for a subject of a high-profile criminal investigation to be conducting media interviews and public appearances during which he discusses the conduct being investigated," Litt told The Hill.
"No criminal defense attorney I know would recommend doing that, and no matter how careful Mr. Bankman-Fried thinks he can be, it's almost inevitable that something he says will come back to haunt him if charges are ever brought," he added.
Sam Bankman-Fried's testimony comes at the request of House Financial Services Committee Chair Maxine Waters.
"As you know, the collapse of FTX has harmed over one million people. Your testimony would not only be meaningful to Members of Congress, but is also critical to the American people," she said to him.
Sens. Sherrod Brown and Pat Toomey have also asked SBF to testify before the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, though he has not yet responded to that request.