• Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and former CEO of the bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, attempted to have several charges against him dismissed in court.
• In a decision made by Judge Lewis Kaplan, five charges were able to be severed from the superseding indictment against SBF.
• The defense team’s arguments faced skepticism from the judge but he agreed to divide some of the charges for trial next year in March.
Sam Bankman Fried’s Attempts 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. Although the defense team’s arguments faced skepticism from the US federal judge in New York, the judge did agree to divide the charges.
Separation of Five Charges
Judge Lewis Kaplan has agreed to sever five charges from the superseding indictment against SBF, as prosecutors await „a specialty waiver from The Bahamas with respect to the prosecution of the defendant on charges first interposed after the date of defendant’s extradition.“ This will allow for only eight charges brought against Bankman-Fried in December 2022 to proceed with a trial this fall.
Defense Team Arguments
SBF’s defense team made multiple attempts to dismiss certain campaign finance charges, wire fraud and bank fraud. Judge Kaplan questioned their request but did not grant it as one attorney argued that those particular charges should be dismissed on a technical detail or be severed alongside other charges due to not being included on an extradition warrant addressed towards Bahamian police. However, this argument was not successful and received equal skepticism from Judge Kaplan who congratulated them on an “extraordinarily imaginative defense”.
Impact Of Decision
The current ruling allows for five separate criminal trials between now and March 2024 which will include only eight out of thirteen initial counts initially filed by Department Of Justice against Sam Bankman- Fried since December 2022.
Conclusion
While SBF’s defense team was unsuccessful at dismissing all thirteen counts initially charged against Sam Bankman- Fried by Department Of Justice, they were successful in separating five out of thirteen counts which can now face different criminal trials between now and March 2024 .
