Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) has faced a setback in his criminal case as a federal judge has denied motions from his legal team to dismiss most of the charges against him.
In a filing on June 27, Judge Lewis Kaplan of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York issued a memorandum opinion rejecting the motions that sought to halt the discovery and disclosure of certain information pertaining to SBF’s case.
Bankman-Fried’s legal team had filed motions on May 8 with the aim of dismissing 10 out of the 13 criminal counts he was facing, leaving only three charges intact.
These remaining charges included conspiracy to commit commodities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
The judge carefully considered the arguments made in the motions and ultimately denied them, citing precedent from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Judge Kaplan emphasized that the dismissal of charges is an extraordinary remedy that should be reserved for limited circumstances involving fundamental rights.
He referred to the Second Circuit’s stance that dismissal is an extreme sanction only appropriate in rare and extreme cases, particularly those involving serious criminal conduct.
Bankman-Fried will now face all eight charges originally brought against him in December 2022, along with four additional charges added in February 2023 through a superseding indictment, and one charge in March 2023 related to the alleged bribery of a Chinese government official.
However, the last five counts will be addressed separately in a trial scheduled to commence in March 2024, as they were added after SBF’s extradition from the Bahamas.
His first trial is set to begin in October.
Throughout the proceedings, Bankman-Fried has maintained his plea of not guilty to all charges.
In December 2022, Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research, and Gary Wang, co-founder of FTX, pleaded guilty to related federal fraud charges.
In addition to the criminal trials, both the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission are expected to initiate civil lawsuits against SBF once the criminal proceedings are concluded.
Meanwhile, FTX’s bankruptcy case continues in the District of Delaware.
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