Ellison was removed from an unwitting front-person throughout her time at Alameda, mentioned Mark Cohen, Bankman-Fried’s lead legal professional, in his opening argument in protection of Bankman-Fried. As a substitute, she was firmly answerable for the reins on the buying and selling fund – and her poor management, in accordance with Bankman-Fried’s attorneys, is what in the end positioned the agency into dire monetary straits. At one level, “as the bulk proprietor of Alameda, Bankman-Fried spoke to Ms. Ellison, the CEO, and he urged her to placed on a hedge,” Cohen instructed the jury. “She did not accomplish that on the time,” but when she had adopted Bankman-Fried’s recommendation, she “would have offset a few of this.”