Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX, has indicated that it would be essential to postpone the criminal trial for the former executive of a cryptocurrency exchange so that he has more time to prepare his case.
Bankman-attorneys Fried’s stated in a March 8 letter to United States District Judge Lewis Kaplan that they haven’t formally requested a date change yet, but that they may be required given that they’re still waiting for a “substantial portion” of the evidence to be turned over to them and that more charges were brought against the founder of FTX in late February.
The Department of Justice’s fraud allegations will be the main topic of the criminal trial, which is set to start on October 2.In accordance with the letter, DOJ prosecutors are in possession of data from devices that belonged to Zixiao “Gary” Wang, a co-founder of FTX, and Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research, a sister company of FTX.
Ellison and Wang both entered guilty pleas to fraud-related offenses, and they are now working with the Government. The attorneys for Bankman-Fried stated that they are also anticipating the contents of “computers owned by two additional former FTX/Alameda workers.” They predict that the gadgets will produce “voluminous and crucially important evidence for the defense.”
The letter also mentioned that a revised indictment against Bankman-Fried, which was unsealed on February 22, increased the number of accusations against her from eight to twelve and added new allegations of conspiracy and fraud. Bankman-Fried entered a not guilty plea to all eight of the first allegations that were made against him in December.
Christian Everdell, one of Bankman-attorneys, Fried’s stated in the letter that it “may be necessary to obtain an adjournment of the trial, currently slated to commence on October 2, 2023,” depending on the scope of the further discovery and the timing of the productions. Everdell continued, “Although we are not currently making such an application, we wanted to flag this concern for the Court today.
Now free on a $250 million bond, Bankman-Fried. His online activities are limited while he is under house arrest at his parent’s home in Palo Alto, California.
