On June 12, former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried filed a pretrial motion to dismiss most of the 13 charges ahead of the trial in October 2023. During the trial, he is supposed to face over a dozen charges ranging from wire fraud, bribery, securities, commodities fraud, etc. Sam has pleaded not guilty to all of them.
SBF Wants Alterations in Charges Against Him
Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and CEO of what was once the world’s third largest crypto exchange, is facing multiple charges. He was arrested in the Bahamas, where the exchange’s HQ was located, on December 13, 2022, and he was detained at the notorious Fox Hill prison.
Initially, Sam and his legal team were against extradition but finally gave in, and he was brought, arrested, and released on a $250,000 bond on December 20, 2023. At the time, he pleaded not guilty to the original six charges. Multiple superseding indictments brought in further charges.
Attorneys argue that charges other than the ones mentioned in the extradition treaty with the Bahamas shall be dropped. The plaintiffs say that the charges were mentioned in the diplomatic note during the extradition process. The list includes bribery charges and violation of financial laws related to political campaigns during the U.S. midterm elections.
During pretrial motions, Bankman-Fried’s attorney argued for dismissing the charges regarding the conspiracy to commit wire fraud to FTX customers, conspiracy to commit wire fraud on Alameda Research lenders, and conspiracy to commit bank fraud. Explaining the grounds for dismissal of these charges, they argue that the prosecutors did not “state an offense for failure to allege a valid property right.”
Another motion argued for dismissing bank fraud conspiracy, unlicensed money transmitter operations, bribery charges on discovery grounds, and unlawful political donations.
The third motion argues for dismissing fraud charges connected with the FTX customers and the unlicensed money transmitter charges “for failure to state an offense.” The final motion argues for dismissing charges of bribery and charges regarding political donations.
Notably, however, Bankman-Fried’s attorneys never argued for the dismissal of charges connected with the conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Other than pleading not guilty, Bankman-Fried also denied the bribery indictment charges.
Bankman-Fried’s lead attorney, Mark Cohen argued during an arraignment that his client “is not acknowledging that he can be tried.” In a memorandum of law, Cohen and his team agreed with the charges mentioned in the extradition treaty. However, they could not agree upon the charges later brought against him.
A significant part of the argument revolves around the extradition treaty between the United States and the Bahamas. The Commonwealth of Bahamas needs to contest the charges brought after the extradition process. Furthermore, the prosecutors argued that the charges cannot be consented to without additional information, which is yet to be provided.
Another argument to dismiss the charges is that FTX never registered as a money transmitter. Additionally, the laws on which Bankman-Fried is charged are not applicable as most of its customers are non-Americans.
Finally, the file asks for additional discovery documents on the premise that FTX should be considered a part of the prosecution team, citing the crypto exchange’s cooperation with the United States Department of Justice.
Nancy J. Allen is a crypto enthusiast and believes that cryptocurrencies inspire people to be their own banks and step aside from traditional monetary exchange systems. She is also intrigued by blockchain technology and its functioning.
Source: https://www.thecoinrepublic.com/2023/06/14/sbf-could-argue-against-extra-charges-says-the-bahamian-sc/