With Sam Bankman-Fried looking on, judge seems skeptical of request to reject criminal fraud charges
FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried's lawyers encountered a skeptical federal judge when they argued that he should toss out criminal fraud charges their client faces after the collapse of his cryptocurrency business
NEW YORK (AP) — FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s lawyers encountered a skeptical federal judge Thursday when they argued that he should toss out criminal fraud charges their client faces after the collapse of his cryptocurrency business.
Judge Lewis A. Kaplan repeatedly pushed back against arguments suggesting that nothing criminal happened if investors and customers of FTX were fooled into believing their money was being used for one purpose when it was being used for another.
When one defense lawyer finished speaking, the judge told him: “I congratulate you on an extraordinarily imaginative argument.” He did not immediately rule.
The Manhattan federal court arguments came after a prosecutor said the government will proceed to a fall trial on only the original charges lodged against Bankman-Fried when he was extradited from the Bahamas in December because new charges added in March have not yet cleared a legal hurdle related to the U.S. Extradition Treaty with the Bahamas.
