(Photo : ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)
FTX's founder Sam Bankman-Fried is not ready to accept the fraud and conspiracy charges against him and is now defending himself. On September 13, his lawyers appealed against the decision, stating that the trial held against him last year was unfair and that a new trial should be held with a different judge.
Bankman-Fried, 32, was convicted in November 2023 and received a 25-year imprisonment sentence. He was convicted for embezzling FTX customer funds without their consent and for providing false information to investors and creditors.
Sam Bankman-Fried's Lawyers Allege Unfair Treatment
Formerly reputed as one of the leading crypto trading platforms globally, collapsed two years ago and caused FTX's arrest. His lawyers have complained long and loud about bias in the trial of their client right from the onset. They argue that the media, the public, and even the judge, Lewis Kaplan, pre-judged Bankman-Fried as guilty before charges were laid.
According to CBS News, they also claim that the jury was pressured into making a decision after only a day's deliberation after a four-week trial. His lawyers claim in their appeal that the judge did not allow critical pieces of evidence that would demonstrate that FTX was not actually bankrupt at the time of its failure. On the other hand, prosecutors were only interested in the amount of money lost by FTX customers.
Another undisclosed piece of information from the jury is that according to Bankman-Fried's defense team, FTX had sufficient funds to pay back its customers right up to the time it filed for bankruptcy, and yet the judge declared him guilty on December 21, 2022. They feel it was wrong for a judge to give a first-time, non-violent offender 25 years imprisonment and they want a retrial with a better judge.
Also Read: Frontier Airlines Flight Diverted After Californian Passenger Choked, Attacked Flight Attendants
FTX's Rise and Fall
The FTX, before its collapse, was one of the largest trading platforms for cryptocurrencies. It even created a Super Bowl ad and worked with key opinion makers such as stand-up comedian Larry David and NFL star Tom Brady. Bankman-Fried had also been extended an invitation to testify before Congress on cryptocurrency.
But all changed when FTX declared for bankruptcy in the last quarter of 2022. This led to massive withdrawals by the investors and customers which caused the company to fold up. Soon after that, Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas and then brought to the US to answer to charges.
Some of them are Caroline Ellison, who worked for FTX's sister company, Alameda Research, much of the former employees cooperated with the prosecutors. Ellison and the other accomplices also pleaded guilty and decided to testify against Bankman-Fied in order to reduce their prison time, said CNN.
During this appeal as we noted earlier, Bankman-Fried's legal counsel has not deviated much from the mitigation argument presented to the court at the time of the agreeable sentencing. It was filed to exonerate him of charges of mishandling FTX's funds and assets and they have objected to some of the events as presented by the prosecution. They still hold for a new trial in order to give another account of the events which might shed more light on the cause of FTX's collapse.
Related Article: Tech Billionaire Jared Isaacman, SpaceX Employees Break New Ground with First Commercial Spacewalk
