FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried leaves US Federal Courtroom in New York City on March 30, 2023.
Kyle Mazza | Anadolu Agency | Getty Images
Sam Bankman-Fried, who has very long denied stealing from buyers of his FTX cryptocurrency trade, on Monday stated prosecutors billed him with “troubling” haste and requested a U.S. decide to toss out 10 of the 13 prison counts against him.
In a filing in Manhattan federal court, Bankman-Fried’s legal professionals reported now-bankrupt FTX was considerably from the only cryptocurrency company to collapse throughout a wide market place crash in 2022, and that prosecutors unexpectedly charged their client in a “hurry to judgment.”
“Somewhat than wait around for traditional civil and regulatory procedures adhering to their everyday system to address the situation, the Government jumped in with the two feet, improperly seeking to switch these civil and regulatory challenges into federal crimes,” his legal professionals wrote.
Bankman-Fried, a 31-12 months-outdated former billionaire, rode a increase in bitcoin and other electronic assets to accumulate an approximated net worth of $26 billion, and grew to become an influential political and philanthropic donor before FTX declared bankruptcy in November.
He has pleaded not guilty to fraud and conspiracy.
The exchange imploded just after a flurry of purchaser withdrawals in the wake of studies it had commingled belongings with Alameda Study, Bankman-Fried’s crypto-targeted hedge fund.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan said Bankman-Fried misled FTX investors and loan companies, and stole billions of bucks in consumer resources to plug losses at Alameda, invest in authentic estate, and make political contributions via an unlawful straw-donor scheme. They have also billed him with bribing Chinese officers.
Forward of a scheduled Oct. 2 demo, his attorneys questioned U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan to get prosecutors to convert in excess of any paperwork in FTX’s possession that could handy the protection, arguing prosecutors have been only inquiring the company for information and facts that will help its circumstance.
“The FTX Debtors have worked so thoroughly with the Governing administration, and are so enmeshed in the investigation, investigation, and technique of the Government’s scenario, that they will have to be deemed section of the ‘prosecution team’,” his attorneys wrote.
Representatives of FTX’s existing management did not immediately react to a request for comment. A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office environment in Manhattan declined to remark.
Prosecutors have right up until May 29 to react to Bankman-Fried’s dismissal ask for, and Kaplan will hear arguments on June 15.
Extradition
Bankman-Fried has acknowledged that FTX had insufficient danger management but denies stealing funds, and has sought to distance himself from FTX’s working day-to-day operations.
Three onetime shut associates — previous Alameda co-main govt Caroline Ellison, former FTX technology chief Gary Wang, and former FTX engineering chief Nishad Singh — have all pleaded guilty and agreed to cooperate with prosecutors.
In pleading responsible, Singh admitted to earning political donations in his individual identify that have been funded in aspect by transfers from Alameda.
But Bankman-Fried’s lawyers explained on Monday that the donations produced by Singh, referred to as CC-1 in prosecutors’ charging documents towards their consumer, did not really violate election rules.
“The marketing campaign finance allegations reveal, however once more, the repercussions of the Government’s hurry to indict Mr. Bankman-Fried,” his attorneys wrote.
Bankman-Fried has largely been confined to his parents’ household since his December arrest in the Bahamas, where he experienced lived and where FTX was based mostly. He was extradited to the United States just above a week following his arrest.
His mother and father, who live in Palo Alto, California, are Stanford College law professors and co-signed his $250 million bond.
In their courtroom papers on Monday, his attorneys stated the marketing campaign finance charge must be dismissed because it was not bundled on the surrender warrant signed by the Bahamas’ overseas affairs minister ahead of Bankman-Fried’s extradition, and that other expenses together with the bribery accusation were improperly brought following he was extradited.