- Sam Bankman-Fried’s legal team has launched an audacious attempt to get the majority of the charges against him dropped
- Bankman-Fried’s legal team has opposed more than a dozen charges in pretrial motions
- The former FTX CEO faces over a hundred years in prison if found guilty of all charges
Sam Bankman-Fried’s legal team has launched an audacious attempt to get the majority of the charges against him dropped, suggesting that the former FTX CEO will, initially at least, try to fight his corner. Bankman-Fried, who is scheduled to go on trial in October, is facing more than 12 different charges including allegations of wire fraud, securities fraud, commodities fraud, and bribery, but the pretrial phase has seen Bankman-Fried’s legal team file motions to dismiss several charges, arguing that the prosecution has failed to “state an offense for failure to allege a valid property right.”
It’s a Bold Move, Cotton…
Bankman-Fried’s charge sheet is so long it could probably stretch to the moon and back if laid out end to end, but his attorneys are doing their best to narrow this list down. They hope to achieve this by stripping out charges including conspiring to commit wire fraud on FTX customers, wire fraud on FTX customers, conspiracy to commit wire fraud on Alameda Research lenders, wire fraud on Alameda Research lenders, and conspiracy to commit bank fraud.
Bankman-Fried’s legal team also requested the dismissal of the bank fraud conspiracy, unlicensed money transmitter operation, unlawful political contribution, and bribery charges on the grounds of insufficient evidence. Another motion was filed to dismiss the fraud charges relating to FTX customers and the unlicensed money transmitter charge for failing to meet the requirements of a criminal offense. The final motion aimed to dismiss the charges of bribery and political contribution.
“Not Guilty”
All the motions were filed yesterday, with each one being accompanied by a lengthy filing and reams of evidence, all of which will have to be waded through, opposed (presumably) and ruled on. What comes out of the other end will have a huge impact on what happens in October, with the filings having the potential to take decades off Bankman-Fried’s possible sentence.
Bankman-Fried’s lead attorney, Mark Cohen, previously told the court that Bankman-Fried did not acknowledge that he could be tried on the charges brought after his extradition from the Bahamas, and has pleaded “not guilty” to other charges brought across previous indictments.
