Former FTX Exec Ryan Salame Criticizes Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison For “Lying” After Sentencing

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Julia Smith

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Julia is an experienced editor with a passion for covering a wide variety of beats. She loves all things politics and regularly covers regulatory updates on emerging technology here for Crypto News.

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September 25, 2024

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Former FTX executive Ryan Salame has taken to X to criticize ex-Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison for “lying” following her September 24 sentencing for her role in FTX’s collapse, new social media posts reveal.

Ryan Salame Calls Out the Former Alameda Research CEO

Salame criticized Ellison, who received 24 months in federal prison as punishment after accepting a cooperation deal with the U.S. government, by seemingly accusing her of lying to get a more lenient sentence stemming from her criminal activity at the doomed crypto exchange.

“Snitch is one thing, completely fabricating stuff and lying about other stuff is next level brilliant,” the former FTX Digital Markets CEO said in a Tuesday X post.

Salame pleaded guilty to conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money business and conspiracy to make unlawful political contributions and defraud the Federal Election Commission this past May.

The former Sam Bankman-Fried associate refused to testify against the FTX founder in his landmark fraud trial last year, ultimately receiving a sentence of 7.5 years behind bars – much longer than Ellison’s.

“My mistake, (I) should have stolen everyone’s money so I could go to jail for substantially less time,” Salame said in an additional post. “For everyone saying I didn’t cooperate that’s patently wrong, I just didn’t lie during my proffers to save myself.”

Caroline Ellison Cooperates With Federal Prosecutors

The ex-girlfriend of Bankman-Fried testified for three days against the disgraced “crypto king” and was largely considered to be the prosecution’s star witness.

She admitted to having participated in the $8 billion digital asset fraud scheme, going so far as to reveal she crafted fraudulent balance sheets to present to investors to cover up their crimes.

Federal prosecutors pushed for leniency in regard to Ellison’s sentencing, noting that her assistance to the U.S. government was crucial in putting the ex-crypto tycoon behind bars.

“The ‘what’ and ‘how’ of the crimes, as well as the ‘why,’ would have been difficult to prove without Ellison’s testimony,” prosecutors wrote in a September 17 letter to presiding Judge Lewis Kaplan.

“While others, like Ryan Salame, tried to withdraw substantial sums of money from their FTX accounts the days before FTX declared bankruptcy, Ellison did not,” the letter continues.

Salame has since attempted to revoke his guilty plea following the indictment of his partner, former congressional hopeful Michelle Bond, on campaign finance violations.

He claims that federal prosecutors promised to stop investigating Bond if he pleaded guilty to the charges brought against him.