Sam Bankman-Fried, who is currently serving a 25-year sentence for the FTX scam, alleged on Wednesday that the Justice Department under Joe Biden threatened key defense witnesses, preventing them from testifying that the exchange was solvent.
SBF Wants New Trial
Bankman-Fried, popularly known as SBF, filed a request for a new trial in a Manhattan court. The motion, filed on February 5, stated that Daniel Chapsky, former FTX head of partnerships, Ryan Salame, former FTX Digital Markets co-CEO, and Nishad Singh, former FTX engineering director, were “threatened” by the DOJ into silence or changing their statements.
“My conviction should be thrown out,” SBF said in an X post, referencing the excerpts from the motion.
SBF also targeted Judge Lewis Kaplan, the one who sentenced him to 25 years in prison, saying, “Judge Lewis Kaplan should recuse himself from this motion.”
Interestingly, Kaplan also presided over President Donald Trump’s federal defamation trial brought by writer E. Jean Carroll, leading SBF to position the judge as a common adversary.
The DOJ didn’t immediately return Benzinga’s request for comment.
Is It The Case Of Suppressed Testimonies?
SBF’s motion included a statement of support from Chapsky, who stated that he would have refuted “false claims” of FTX’s insolvency had he been allowed to testify. Unlike other FTX executives, Chapsky avoided legal consequences.
Salame pleaded guilty to criminal fraud charges and was sentenced to 90 months in prison, while Singh avoided prison but was ordered to forfeit over $1 billion and to be supervised for three years. Notably, Singh testified against SBF as a prosecution witness.
The new motion follows SBF’s claims that FTX was “never bankrupt,” blaming Sullivan & Cromwell lawyers for filing a bigus bankruptcy case.
Prosecution Found SBF Guilty Of Big Fraud
Court records and regulatory complaints describe FTX as deeply insolvent once the hidden deficit at sister trading firm Alameda Research was exposed in late 2022.
Judges and prosecutors found that SBF siphoned more than $8 billion in customer assets. He was convicted of misappropriating funds from the exchange customers and using the money for personal expenses, political contributions and venture capital investments.
Trump has indicated no intention of pardoning SBF even though the family and supporters of the disgraced cryptocurrency mogul had launched a broader campaign for clemency.
Photo Courtesy: lev radin on Shutterstock.com
Recent Comments