A US judge said Tuesday that prosecutors can discuss Sam Bankman-Fried’s political donations at his upcoming trial, because the contributions are relevant to fraud charges facing the founder of cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan in Manhattan said evidence of the former billionaire’s donations was “inextricably intertwined” with allegations that he defrauded FTX customers by stealing billions of dollars in deposits.
“Evidence that the defendant spent FTX customer funds on political contributions is direct evidence of the wire fraud scheme because it is relevant to establishing the defendant’s motive and alleged fraudulent intent,” Kaplan wrote.
Federal prosecutors initially charged Bankman-Fried, 31, with conspiring to violate campaign finance laws, in addition to seven other counts of fraud and conspiracy stemming from the November 2022 collapse of FTX, now bankrupt.
They later dropped the campaign finance charge after the Bahamas, where Bankman-Fried was arrested in December, said it was not part of their deal to extradite him.
Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to all charges. His trial will begin on October 3.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan had initially charged Sam Bankman-Fried, 31, with conspiring to violate U.S. campaign finance laws. REUTERS
Before FTX’s demise, Bankman-Fried had been among the largest donors to Democratic candidates and causes ahead of the November 2022 midterm elections.
Prosecutors said he used $100 million in stolen FTX deposits to fund those donations, which he hoped would spur the passage of pro-cryptocurrency legislation.
In his ruling, Kaplan also rejected Bankman-Fried’s request to prohibit prosecutors from telling the jury that FTX had filed for bankruptcy and that he had resigned as CEO.
Evidence of SBF’s political donations was “inextricably intertwined” with charges that it defrauded FTX customers by stealing billions of dollars in their deposits, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan said.REUTERS
Bankman-Fried has said that FTX lawyers pressured him to allow the exchange to file for Chapter 11, and that he received a substantial financing offer shortly thereafter.
Prosecutors said Bankman-Fried then sought to interfere with the bankruptcy estate and undermine FTX’s creditors, moving assets to cryptocurrency wallets controlled by regulators in the Bahamas.
Kaplan said that evidence would be relevant at trial.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn