Alameda's Caroline Ellison, FTX's Gary Wang Plead Guilty to 'Fraud' Charges

Former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison and FTX co-founder Gary Wang pleaded guilty to charges tied to FTX's collapse, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams announced Wednesday night.

The two are cooperating with investigators, Williams announced. He did not specify what the two were being charged with.

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried was charged with eight crimes by the SDNY earlier this month after he was arrested in Nassau. The charges include money laundering, wire fraud, securities fraud, and campaign finance violations. He is being extradited to the U.S., Williams confirmed in his statement, saying that the FTX founder was in FBI custody and would appear in court "as soon as possible."

Ellison was a close confident of Bankman-Fried’s, and has been targeted by prosecutors for her role in manipulating FTX’s exchange token FTT, which Alameda had used as collateral for investments.

"If you participated in misconduct at FTX or Alameda, now is the time to get ahead of it. We are moving quickly and our patience is not eternal," Williams said.

UPDATE (Dec. 22, 2022, 02:30 UTC): Adds additional information.