• Sam Bankman-Fried attempted to have several charges against him dismissed in court.
• Judge Lewis Kaplan of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York agreed to divide the charges, with some being brought to trial next year in March.
• The defense team’s arguments faced skepticism from the judge, who eventually declined to dismiss any of the charges.
Attempt to Dismiss Charges
Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the founder and former CEO of the bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, made an effort to have several charges against him dismissed in court. The defense team’s arguments faced skepticism from the US federal judge in New York, however he did agree to divide the charges.
Judge Agrees To Sever Charges
This Thursday, June 15th, Judge Lewis Kaplan of the US District Court for the Southern District of New York ruled that five of the charges against SBF could be brought to trial next year in March. This will allow prosecutors to proceed with a trial on only eight charges brought against Bankman-Fried in December 2022.
Defense Team’s Arguments
SBF’s defense team made multiple attempts to dismiss all or part of these charges including campaign finance charges, wire fraud, and bank fraud. However their arguments were met with skepticism from Judge Kaplan who praised them for their imaginative defense but ultimately declined their plea for dismissal.
Extradition Request
Another attorney argued that since Bankman-Fried did not consent on this charge when he was extradited it should be dismissed or at least severed along with other charges. The prosecutor responded that although this wasn’t listed on warrant addressed by Bahamian police officers it was still included as part of extradition request which was known by court .