Former FTX chief CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has requested a federal courtroom for a brand new trial on fraud prices, arguing that beforehand unavailable witness testimony may undermine the federal government’s case that led to his 25-year jail sentence.
In a movement filed Feb. 5 in Manhattan federal courtroom, Bankman-Fried challenged his 2023 conviction, though the request is separate from his formal attraction, as Bloomberg reported. Motions for a brand new trial face a excessive authorized bar and are hardly ever granted.
The submitting was submitted to the courtroom by Bankman-Fried’s mom, retired Stanford regulation professor Barbara Fried, and is now beneath evaluation. Bloomberg described the trouble as a protracted shot.
Nonetheless, the transfer retains the case energetic and highlights Bankman-Fried’s technique of contesting the decision on a number of fronts, even after the fallout of FTX’s collapse reverberated throughout the crypto business for years.
Bankman-Fried was convicted on seven prison counts associated to the misuse of buyer funds at FTX and its affiliated buying and selling firm, Alameda Analysis, in one of the crucial consequential fraud circumstances in crypto’s historical past. Regardless of the conviction, Bankman-Fried has maintained his innocence.
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What the submitting argues, particularly
Within the movement, Bankman-Fried contends that testimony from former FTX executives Daniel Chapsky and Ryan Salame may problem the prosecution’s narrative concerning the firm’s monetary situation earlier than its collapse in November 2022.
Neither govt appeared at trial, though Salame pleaded responsible to marketing campaign finance and fraud-related prices. He is at the moment serving a seven-and-a-half-year jail sentence.
Bankman-Fried additionally requested {that a} totally different choose evaluation the movement, arguing that trial choose Lewis Kaplan confirmed “manifest prejudice” through the proceedings.
These claims echo earlier arguments raised in Bankman-Fried’s attraction listening to, the place his lawyer mentioned Kaplan improperly barred the protection from telling jurors that ample funds have been accessible to repay traders.
In the meantime, the FTX chapter property, the pool of remaining belongings overseen by court-appointed directors, continues to make progress in returning funds to affected prospects. The alternate is utilizing a phased reimbursement course of and distributed billions of {dollars} to collectors in 2025, with extra payouts anticipated as asset recoveries and claims critiques proceed.
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