Sam Bankman-Fried pleads not guilty to charges he defrauded FTX customers
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Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, on Tuesday pleaded not guilty to charges that he defrauded customers out of millions of dollars worth of digital assets. Wearing a backpack, Bankman-Fried made his way through a sea of cameras as he entered the Manhattan courthouse on a rainy day to stand before U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan. Bankman-Fried sat silent in the court room while attorney Mark Cohen announced his client's plea. "He pleads not guilty to all counts," Cohen said. Judge Kaplan set a tentative trial date of Oct. 2. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York has charged Bankman-Fried with eight counts of fraud, money laundering and other financial crimes. Bankman-Fried, who stepped down as FTX's CEO in November, also violated political contribution laws by donating to candidates and committees in New York under another person's name, ...