Lawyers for Sam Bankman-Fried asked Judge Lewis Kaplan of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York last month to dismiss most of the charges against the former head of FTX. The defense attorneys argued that some of the charges were repetitive.
Attorneys also asked Kaplan to drop fraud charges against Bankman-Fried related to his alleged use of FTX clients’ assets to support his own investments through Alameda Research. They argue that customers saw no “economic loss” from the alleged fraud, and that Bankman-Fried himself planned to pay off debts in customer accounts.
But Kaplan denied the motions, calling them “moot or frivolous.”
“The defendant is wrong on both the facts and the law,” Kaplan wrote.
Bankman-Fried faces more than 100 years in prison if convicted and sentenced to the maximum term on all counts, including fraud charges that he and other FTX executives used billions of customer assets for their own investments. He is currently under house arrest at his parents’ home;
A court hearing in the Bankman-Friede case is scheduled for October, though his attorneys are also asking for a postponement.
It was learned this week that FTX’s new management filed a lawsuit against K5 Global, Mount Olympus Capital, SGN Albany Capital and their affiliates seeking a $700 million investment refund. According to the lawsuit, Bankman-Fried attended one of the many events organized by these companies. He then invested about $700 million in funds managed by these firms.