ct_bs_socialshare_nowheardon_1080x1080
On Air Now
The Clay Travis & Buck Sexton Show
Mon - Fri: 12:00 PM - 03:00 PM

Sam Bankman-Fried appeals fraud conviction tied to FTX collapse

gettyimages_sambankmanfried_091324657356
Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg via Getty Images

(NEW YORK) — Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, was convicted because of a “false narrative” told by federal prosecutors at a trial “tainted” by errors, his attorneys argued in a new court filing Friday to a federal appeals court.

“Fair trial principles were swept away in a ‘Sentence first-verdict afterwards’ tsunami, as everyone rushed to judgment following FTX’s collapse,” defense attorneys wrote in the appeal. “Sam Bankman-Fried was never presumed innocent. He was presumed guilty—before he was even charged.”

Bankman-Fried was found guilty of fraud, conspiracy and money laundering last November after federal prosecutors in New York accused him of orchestrating a scheme that collapsed the crypto-exchange he founded, FTX, and stole $8 billion in customer funds.

He is serving a 25-year prison sentence, which his attorneys called “draconian.”

In Friday’s appeal, defense attorney Alexandra Shapiro attacked the trial judge, Lewis Kaplan, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, accusing them of lacking objectivity or even-handedness.

“He was presumed guilty by the media. He was presumed guilty by the FTX debtor estate and its lawyers. He was presumed guilty by federal prosecutors eager for quick headlines. And he was presumed guilty by the judge who presided over his trial,” the appeal said.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to comment, but will submit a written reply brief.

The defense asked for a reversal of Bankman-Fried’s conviction and a new trial before a different judge.

Former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison, Bankman-Fried’s ex-girlfriend and a blockbuster witness for the prosecution, is set to be sentenced for her role in the fraud later this month.

Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.

Related Posts

Loading...