BY KEN SWEET AND LARRY NEUMEISTER
Splashy advertisements featuring football star Tom Brady and comedian Larry David were among the first evidence seen by jurors Wednesday as prosecutors launched a historic fraud case against cryptocurrency maven Sam Bankman-Fried, depicting him as a villain who portrayed himself as the Robin Hood of the crypto world.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathan Rehn said in his opening statement in Manhattan federal court that it was only a year ago that Bankman-Fried seemed to be “on top of the world,” operating the multibillion dollar company he founded, FTX, a seemingly pioneering cryptocurrency trading platform.
Rehn said the 31-year-old lived in a $30 million apartment in the Bahamas, jetted around the world on private planes, socialized with celebrities and spent billions of dollars as he flaunted power and made big political donations to gain influence in Washington over cryptocurrency regulation.
The prosecutor, though, said that the
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