Sam Bankman-Fried admitted he ‘f–ked up’ in draft testimony to Congress

Disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried had planned to admit that he “f—ked up” while under oath Tuesday on Capitol Hill, according to written remarks that were rendered moot when he was arrested in the Bahamas on Monday night.

Leaked drafts of Bankman-Fried’s planned testimony provided a glimpse into his mindset just before the SEC accused him with bilking FTX investors out of a whopping $1.8 billion.

“I would like to start by formally stating, under oath: I f–ked up,” Bankman-Fried wrote, according to Forbes.

Bankman-Fried was arrested hours before he was scheduled to testify remotely in front of the House Financial Services Committee. The feds are expected to charge the 30-year-old cryptocurrency executive with wire fraud, wire fraud conspiracy, securities fraud, securities fraud conspiracy and money laundering on Tuesday.

In his written remarks, Bankman-Fried also whined that his personal fortune, which he claimed to have hit $20 billion last year, had evaporated following FTX’s bankruptcy.

“Last I saw, I believe my bank account had about $100K in it,” Bankman-Fried wrote. “I don’t know for sure, because I have been denied access to many of my own personal passwords, data, documents and accounts.”

FTX’s new CEO John Ray is still set to testify before the key house panel on Tuesday. Ray, a restructuring expert who steered disgraced energy firm Enron through its high-profile bankruptcy, described FTX’s internal governance as the worst he’s encountered in his career.

Bankman-Fried fired back at Ray in his nixed written remarks and claimed to regret “giving into pressure” to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy at FTX last month.

“I have reached out to Mr. Ray and the Chapter 11 team numerous times. Sometimes I’ve been requesting access to my own data, but other times I’ve been attempting to alert them to potentially important information for their jobs and duties to creditors and customers of FTX,” the testimony said.

Bankman-Fried also claimed to have received “a potential funding offer for billions of dollars” just moments after he signed the paperwork clearing the way for FTX’s bankruptcy. The beleaguered FTX founder said he tried to rescind Ray’s appointment as CEO, but it was too late.

House Financial Services Committee Chair Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) said she was “surprised” to hear of Bankman-Fried’s arrest in the Bahamas on the eve of his scheduled appearance.

“Although Mr. Bankman-Fried must be held accountable, the American public deserves to hear directly from Mr. Bankman-Fried about the actions that’ve harmed over one million people, and wiped out the hard-earned life savings of so many,” Waters said in a statement. “The public has been waiting eagerly to get these answers under oath before Congress, and the timing of this arrest denies the public this opportunity.”

During a Twitter Spaces interview on Monday, Bankman-Fried said he planned to testify via Zoom because he was “quite overbooked.” He also expressed concerns about “paparazzi” if he traveled back to the US.

Earlier this week, members of the Senate Banking Committee said Bankman-Fried had refused their request to testify at a similar hearing this week. The panel previously warned the ex-billionaire could be subpoenaed if he did not voluntarily comply.

With Post wires