U.S. Charges Against FTX’s Sam Bankman-Fried Don’t Warrant Dismissal, Prosecutors Say
Prosecutors proclaimed in court filings on Monday, saying, Criminal accusations that Sam Bankman-Fried’s lawyer aimed to disregard, including technicalities around his extradition back to the U.S. and campaign finance violations, are valid.
In January, former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried claimed not guilty to criminal accusations of fraud, conspiracy, and campaign finance law violations, in a New York federal court.
In early May, Bankman-Fried filed pretrial motions to dismiss most charges levied against him by U.S. prosecutors, with his defense arguing procedural issues.
Additionally, The irrelevance of some U.S. laws given FTX’s non-U.S. location, and that the charges outshined the agreed extradition agreement.
However, prosecutors contended that the extradition treaty with the Caribbean nation approves of post-extradition charges with the approval of the extraditing country, and any charges proposed post-extradition in new accusations do not infringe this rule.
A Court Battle Of Justification
One of these charges, filed in March, alleged that the former Chief Executive of FTX had infringed the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) because he put forth $40 million to unnamed Chinese officials to convince them to unfreeze accounts.
Subsequently, Bankman-Fried intensely argued allegations he had committed commodity fraud are nonbinding because it pertains to extraterritorial enforcement.
Notably, U.S. prosecutors rebuffed tentatively the accusations should stand on the basis that the effect of FTX’s trades was felt in crypto markets within the U.S.
Furthermore, the allegations of campaign finance law violation – which center around Bankman-Fried donating money in the names of FTX executives – prosecutors asserted his arguments don’t hold up because the indictment revealed exactly how he worked to conceal the source of funds for donations.
The charge that defense has requested more discovery documents, arguing that the FTX estate should be deemed part of the ‘prosecution team due to its alliance with the U.S. Department of Justice.
