Caroline Ellison, a top adviser to the cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman-Fried, testified on Wednesday that she had lied over and over at his request, misleading the public about his businesses and circulating “dishonest” financial documents to crypto lenders, the New York Times reported. By the time Mr. Bankman-Fried’s two companies — FTX, a digital currency exchange, and Alameda Research, a hedge fund — collapsed in November, the lies had become too much to bear, Ms. Ellison said, and the implosions were almost cathartic. “Overall it was the worst week of my life,” said Ms. Ellison, 28, fighting back tears as she recounted the frantic week when the companies failed. “I felt this sense of relief that I didn’t have to lie anymore, and that I could start taking responsibility even though I felt indescribably bad.” Ms. Ellison’s testimony, in her second day on the witness stand, was the most emotional moment so far of Mr. Bankman-Fried’s fraud trial. She was widely considered the government’s star witness, partly because she dated Mr. Bankman-Fried on and off for years, giving her unique access to the FTX founder as his crypto empire grew. His trial in federal court in Manhattan has become a referendum on high-risk practices across the crypto industry that led to billions of dollars in losses last year.
