Sam Bankman Fried (SBF), co-founder of FTX will be facing two criminal trials which will take place in October 2023 and March 2024. He was already charged with 13 allegations. The prosecutors need permission from the Bahamas government before placing any new allegations on SBF.
13 Allegations Against FTX co-Founder
After Sam Bankman-Fried was extradited to the United States, the Department of Justice amended charges against him. And a district judge ordered a second trial.
Sam Bankman-Fried, a co-founder of FTX, is now being prosecuted on two different criminal counts. He is prosecuted for allegedly mismanaging the cryptocurrency exchange. A total of 13 allegations involving fraud, fraud conspiracy, and bribery are being brought against Bankman-Fried. On October 2, a trial for all of the charges was slated to start.
Judge Lewis A. Kaplan decided to set up two trials after the prosecution stated that the newest accusations would only be pursued if the Bahamas government, where Mr Bankman-Fried was initially detained, approved of them.
In a decision issued on June 15 by United States District Court Judge Lewis Kaplan, five of those charges will now be divided into a second trial scheduled for March 11, 2024. Initially facing eight accusations, SBF was extradited to the United States in December 2022. Subsequent indictments added five more charges in February and March 2023.
The charge division occurs as DOJ prosecutors ask the Bahamian government for permission to try Bankman-Fried. They asked for permission to try him on the five extra charges they brought against him following his extradition from the island. The co-founder of FTX’s solicitors made an effort to get those accusations dropped by arguing that he could not be punished for crimes committed after his extradition.
On June 14, attorneys for the DOJ said that they will move on with the trial of Bankman-Fried on the initial eight charges they brought against him. They cited the potential length of the procedure if the court had to wait for the acceptance of a request made by Bankman-Fried in The Bahamas.
The charges of conspiring to commit bribery, conspiring to run an unauthorized money-transfer business, conspiring to commit bank fraud, and conspiring to commit derivatives and securities fraud will be the main topics of the upcoming trial in March.
The additional charges include allegations of money laundering as well as numerous wire, derivatives, and securities fraud and conspiracies allegedly committed at FTX and Alameda Research.
Attorneys for Mr Bankman-Fried argued against the accusations that he and other top executives defrauded investors and stole FTX client cash, in part to fund opulent lives.
The attorneys contended that the accusations were unfounded because they were redundant, generalized, and lacking in specificity.
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/2023/06/17/ftx-co-founder-sam-backman-fried-to-face-two-criminal-trials/