Sam Bankman-Fried asks US court to dismiss criminal charges over FTX

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has requested a New York choose to dismiss legal fees introduced in opposition to him following the collapse of the cryptocurrency change final yr.

In a flurry of filings on Monday night time, legal professionals of Bankman-Fried put ahead various defences, arguing that the 31-year-old was impermissibly charged with additional crimes following his extradition from the Bahamas in December, that a few of the allegedly unlawful transactions passed off exterior of the US and that marketing campaign contributions he made to political events had been authorized.

US prosecutors final yr accused Bankman-Fried of working a “world scheme” to defraud clients and lenders of FTX and affiliated hedge fund Alameda earlier than their collapse in November, when a multibillion-dollar gap was uncovered within the firm’s steadiness sheet.

Bankman-Fried was initially charged with eight legal counts, together with wire fraud, conspiracy to commit cash laundering and conspiracy to violate marketing campaign finance legal guidelines, earlier than prosecutors added 5 extra counts together with securities fraud and conspiracy to violate anti-bribery legal guidelines by paying $40mn to allegedly influence Chinese officials.

The previous entrepreneur’s defence group has argued that the fees are “obscure and non-specific” and introduced in a “traditional rush to judgement . . . lower than a month after FTX’s chapter”.

Bankman-Fried had pleaded not responsible to all the fees in opposition to him. His legal professionals stated he had moved to the Bahamas as a result of the legal guidelines governing cryptocurrencies had been clearer there, whereas within the US, “authorized uncertainty and ambiguity had been frequent”.

“Within the wake of the ‘crypto winter,’ the federal government, in hindsight, could dislike or disapprove of enterprise practices of the cryptocurrency trade, FTX, and even Mr Bankman-Fried — however this doesn’t give it license to show them into federal crimes,” the legal professionals’ filings stated.

In an try and “battle these baseless fees and clear his identify”, Bankman-Fried drafted within the assist of a British barrister, James Lewis KC, to attest that the extradition treaty between the US and the Bahamas, whose authorized system relies on English legislation, was violated when prosecutors added additional fees following his arrival on American soil.

Bankman-Fried’s legal professionals additionally complained that John Ray, a veteran of the Enron restructuring who took over as chief executive of the bankrupt FTX, had “acted as a public mouthpiece for the federal government by persevering with to make disparaging remarks” in regards to the defendant.

Ray testified to Congress in December that he had by no means “seen such an utter failure of company controls at each degree of an organisation”.

The chief had been “successfully deputised” by the federal government, Bankman-Fried’s legal professionals claimed, “as federal brokers to evaluation and synthesise the proof for them”. They accused FTX of waiving attorney-client privileges to supply info to prosecutors, whereas refusing to take action on matters that may assist their shopper compile his defence.

A spokesperson for Ray and FTX debtors didn’t reply to a request for remark.

A trial within the legal case is scheduled for October, although Bankman-Fried’s legal professionals have indicated they could ask for a postponement.

Three of Bankman-Fried’s former colleagues — Caroline Ellison, Gary Wang and Nishad Singh — have already pleaded responsible in connection to fees stemming from the collapse and agreed to co-operate with prosecutors.