Sam Bankman-Fried co-founded FTX in 2019 and is its CEO. Photo FTX
Lawyers for Sam Bankman-Fried filed motions to try and get the case against him dismissed because, they argued, the alleged activities their client engaged in only constitute civil law violations and regulatory violations, and as such no federal criminal indictments were warranted. But the prosecutors in the case say the defense’s claims are without merit.
Sam Bankman-Fried is charged with crimes connected to the collapse of his FTX crypto currency exchange platform. His lawyers maintain the American government is merely looking for a “fall guy” to blame for the excesses of the entire crypto market writing in court fillings, “In the wake of the ‘crypto winter,’ the Government, in hindsight, may dislike or disapprove of business practices of the cryptocurrency industry, FTX, or even Mr. Bankman-Fried — but this does not give it license to turn them into federal crimes.”
But in a nearly 100 page court filing in response to the defense motion to dismiss the case, prosecutors wrote, “These motions are meritless. The charges track the relevant statutes and the defendant’s alleged misconduct falls within the heartland of what these statutes prohibit.”
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“The defendant’s spending of misappropriated funds on political donations is probative of the defendant’s motive for defrauding FTX’s customers and investors: the defendant wanted access to capital that he could use, in part, for political donations that would burnish his own image and improve the regulatory prospects of his business in the United States,” added the prosecutors.
Sam Bankman-Fried stands accused of eight counts of fraud and conspiracy. If convicted on all counts, he could be sentenced to as much as 115 years in jail. The charges came after his FTX crypto currency exchange company went bust a few weeks ago. The big question over the fall of FTX is “what happened to all of the money that people left with the company?” FTX was a crypto bank, so to speak, a place where people could park their virtual assets. But unlike with banks, there is no regulation over the handling of cryptos and FTX is said to have moved people’s cryptos around, basically that the company spent their money.
Based in the Bahamas, FTX was a cryptocurrency exchange that said it was built by traders, for traders. FTX offers industry-first derivatives, options, volatility products and leveraged tokens. FTX had more than one million traders using its services when it failed.
