FTXs Bankman-Fried Seeks to Dismiss Charges for Crypto Collapse | Crypto

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Lawyers for Bankman-Frieds told the court that prosecutors rushed to try their client.

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, has asked a US court to dismiss the majority of charges he faces for the implosion of his crypto empire.

In a pretrial motion filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York on Monday, Bankman-Fried’s attorneys argued that prosecutors had rushed to try their client.

Bankman-Frieds’ lawyers asked the court to dismiss 10 of 13 charges, which include fraud and money laundering, for reasons including the prosecutor’s failure to declare an offense.

Rather than waiting for traditional civil and regulatory processes to take their normal course to resolve the situation, the government stepped in with both feet, wrongfully seeking to turn these civil and regulatory issues into federal crimes, its attorneys wrote in the filing. .

Bankman-Fried, 31, was celebrated as one of the world’s youngest billionaires and biggest names in crypto until FTX collapsed amid allegations of massive fraud.

Prosecutors allege Bankman-Fried misappropriated client funds to make up losses at sister trading house Alameda, purchase real estate and make illegal political contributions. He is also accused of paying a Chinese government official a bribe of at least $40 million to persuade authorities to release accounts belonging to his hedge fund.

Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to all charges against him and is due to stand trial in New York in October.

Prosecutors have until May 29 to respond to his request for a dismissal.

U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan is scheduled to hear arguments June 15.

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