Caroline Ellison prepared 7 different balance sheets to present to Genesis months before bankruptcy: Inner City Press
Sam Bankman-Fried allegedly asked Caroline Ellison to come up with different ways to hide the billions in loans on Alameda Research’s balance sheets, according to reporting from Inner City Press.
During Oct. 11 testimonies, the former Alameda Research CEO described what she and Bankman-Fried did before meeting with Matt Ballensweig, co-head of trading and lending at the crypto lender Genesis, who had asked for updated information on Alameda’s balance sheet.
“Sam said don’t sent the balance sheet to Genesis,” Caroline Ellison was reported as saying. “We were borrowing $10 billion from FTX and we had $5 billion in loans to our own executives and affiliated entities. We thought Genesis might share the info.”
“He told me to come up with alternative ways to present the information. He wanted me to conceal things on our balance sheet. So I prepared seven different balance sheets. I did not want to be dishonest but I presented the alternatives to Sam and let him decide,” Ellison added. This event occurred on June 19, 2022, according to courtroom testimony.
Of the seven alternatives, Bankman-Fried chose to present the version that did not disclose the $9.9 billion owed to FTX customers, with the goal of making Alameda look less risky, Ellison said.
Matt Ballensweig resigned from his position on Sept. 28, 2022, The Block previously reported.