FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried calls for reopening of case

The lawyers filed briefs with the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, asking a three-judge panel to his conviction and reassign the case to a brand new judge for retrial on the grounds that the trial judge had “imposed a draconian quarter-century sentence on this first-time, non-violent offender” after, they claimed, pressuring the jury to succeed in a verdict in someday, concluding a fancy, four-week trial.

“Sam Bankman-Fried was never presumed innocent. He was presumed guilty before he was even charged. The media found him guilty. The FTX debtor estate and their lawyers found him guilty. Federal prosecutors, looking for quick headlines, found him guilty. And the judge who presided over his trial found him guilty,” the lawyers wrote.

They said that with the passage of time, Bankman-Fried is now seen in a greater light.

“From day one, the prevailing narrative – initially spun by the lawyers who took over FTX and quickly adopted by their contacts in the U.S. Attorney’s Office – was that Bankman-Fried stole billions of dollars in customer funds, drove FTX into bankruptcy and caused billions in losses,” the lawyer said.

“Now, nearly two years later, a very different picture is emerging – one that confirms that FTX was never insolvent and actually had billions worth of assets to repay its customers. But the jury in the Bankman-Fried trial never got to see that picture,” they added.

Bankman-Fried, 32, was convicted of fraud and conspiracy last November, a yr after his businesses collapsed out of business as investors quickly withdrew their funds. A jury concluded that a few of their money had been improperly spent on real estate, investments, celebrity endorsements, political donations and a lavish lifestyle.

At its peak, FTX was hailed as a pioneer and darling of the emerging cryptocurrency industry, with a Super Bowl ad, testimony from Bankman-Fried before Congress, and endorsements from celebrities resembling quarterback Tom Brady and comedian Larry David.

Bankman-Fried was arrested in December 2022 following his extradition from the Bahamas, just weeks after his company filed for bankruptcy and days after a few of his former top executives began cooperating with federal prosecutors, a few of whom testified against him in court.

He initially remained free under strict bail conditions at his parents’ home in Palo Alto, California. Shortly before the trial began, nevertheless, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan in Manhattan revoked his bail after concluding that Bankman-Fried had attempted to influence likely witnesses, including an ex-girlfriend who was a managing director on the crypto hedge fund Alameda Research.

The fallen Mogul is serving a 25 years imprisonment after being convicted in March in what a prosecutor once called one in every of the biggest financial frauds in U.S. history.

A spokesman for the prosecutor’s office declined to comment on Friday.