Two top associates of disgraced crypto executive Sam Bankman-Fried have pleaded guilty to criminal charges and are cooperating with US prosecutors leading the investigation into FTX’s collapse.

The US Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams said in a statement on Wednesday night that Caroline Ellison and Gary Wang had been charged “in connection with their roles in the frauds that contributed to FTX’s collapse.”

“Both Ms. Ellison and Mr. Wang have pleaded guilty to those charges and they are both cooperating with the Southern District of New York,” Williams said in the video statement.

    Statement of U.S. Attorney Damian Williams on U.S. v. Samuel Bankman-Fried, Caroline Ellison, and Gary Wang
    - US Attorney SDNY (@SDNYnews) December 22, 2022

The US Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission also announced seperate lawsuits against Wang and Ellison.

The US attorney’s announcement came hours after FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who was arrested in the Bahamas last week, consented to being extradited back to the US to face several criminal charges.

He boarded a private plane with FBI agents bound for New York on Wednesday night. Bankman-Fried is expected to appear in federal court in Manhattan on Thursday.

“Let me reiterate a call I made last week,” Williams said. “If you participated in misconduct at FTX or Alameda, now is the time to get ahead of it. We are moving quickly and our patience is not eternal.”

  - Bloomberg