Sam Bankman-Fried continues to fight against new charges.
Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, better known as SBF, may encounter an extended legal battle as his legal representatives aim to separate or dismiss six accusations from his impending trial.
This is due to the notion that the Bahamian courts' decision to permit his trial for these offenses could span over years, as highlighted in a legal document submitted in a New York federal court on June 12th.
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On May 29th, the prosecution acknowledged that approval from the Bahamas is essential for proceeding with five out of the charges that Bankman-Fried has been indicted with. This is because these charges weren't part of the initial extradition agreement to the United States.
Despite this, the prosecution seeks the Bahamian government's consent to proceed with these extra offenses.
Responding to this, SBF's defense team declared on June 12th that they sought the intervention of the Bahamas Supreme Court to restrict the government from granting such permissions except within the bounds of the law.
Meanwhile, defense lawyers have indicated that a minister in the executive branch was instructed to withhold a judgment on this matter.
The defense team pointed out that if the unnamed minister provides the go-ahead to charge SBF with supplementary offenses, he will retain the right to challenge this decision through the Bahamian judicial system. Such a process might take "several months or years to resolve."
Therefore, the defense is pushing for these charges to be dismissed in the interim, given that they are being utilized to maintain the defendant's house arrest.
Offering an alternative solution, the defense suggested that if the US district court cannot dismiss these charges, they should be severed from the forthcoming trial. This would mean that Bankman-Fried could stand trial only for the seven charges he consented to in the extradition agreement, with no additional charges.
Bankman-Fried first faced charges in December linked to his tenure at the now-defunct crypto exchange, FTX. The prosecution alleges that he mishandled customer funds and deceived investors about FTX's risk management practices, leading to significant losses.
