The latest development in the ongoing lawsuit between the United States Department of Justice, FTX exchange, and the former CEO of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, revealed that the warring parties are currently sparring over the potential proof that can be presented in the defendant’s fraud trial. Facts regarding FTX’s insolvency, the alleged violation of campaign finance rules, and US operations are under severe questioning.
According to the report, the American Department of Justice pointed out that before the FTX exchange collapsed, Larry David, who is a famous comedian, and Tom Brady, who is an American football star, both ran adverts for the firm. Hence, the DoJ deduced in its recent filing that a possible connection exists between FTX’s US and International markets.
Furthermore, FTX’s founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, is reportedly sparring with the DoJ concerning the specific evidence the government prosecutors can present before the court during his October trial to prove their allegations against him. Also, he recently alleged that the DoJ dubiously added campaign finance violations and corruption charges to his case. Additionally, the former CEO has refused to plead guilty, and his trial will start on October 2, 2023.
DoJ Claims FTX operates US and International Markets Together
Meanwhile, the legal experts representing Bankman-Fried have claimed that FTX’s operation in the United States is legally separated from its international market; hence, the accusation on one does not translate to the other. However, the DoJ prosecutors disagreed, claiming that there is no clear separation between the two operations.
Buttressing its claims, the prosecutors cited a series of advertisements featuring celebrities, including Larry David and Tom Brady, which the crypto firm executed a few months before its eventual bankruptcy due to the crypto market crash. In its filing, DoJ stated that in the ads, they promote FTX as a safe and secure path into the crypto industry, displaying a logo belonging to FTX and not the FTX.US logo.
In addition, the federal prosecutors reported that the internal document showed that FTX failed to distinguish between campaigning for FTX.US or FTX international clearly. Also, the DoJ planned to investigate the delicate data concerning FTX’s bankruptcy as it claimed they are inseparably connected to the initial allegation that the firm misappropriated clients’ funds.
Meanwhile, Sam Bankman-Fried continues to claim that he was forced to give up a firm that could have recovered from its losses and regained its stance and financial health by now. The DoJ declared that the Jury on the case is interested in all events related to the collapsed firm but does not care about the firm itself. In addition, the prosecutors revealed that according to the law, whether the victims of the collapses recovered their funds or not is immaterial.
SBF accused DoJ of Clawing Back Dropped Charges
Furthermore, the report revealed that the evidence would show that the former FTX co-founder cooperated with Bankman-Fried to steal FTX’s customers’ funds on November 11, storing them in the Bahamas. The government added that the action of the executives merely strengthened the wire fraud plot charges leveled against them initially.
Nonetheless, the attorneys representing Bankman-Fried challenged the DoJ for effectively circumventing the conditions for the defendant’s deportation from the Bahamas. However, the report revealed that the government prosecutors have recently dropped allegations concerning bribery of Chinese executives and violating the campaign finance regulations as they were not included in the original extradite paper used in the Bahamas to arrest Bankman-Fried.
Bankman-Fried’s attorney highlighted that by tendering the evidence concerning the withdrawn charges, the prosecutors are trying to undo the effort of the government when they narrowed the case and probably trying to try him on the already dropped cases. He pointed out that the prosecutors are trying to make the court admit the evidence of the bribery charge in order to confuse the jury into believing that the defendant initially had a criminal propensity.
As earlier reported, SBF was captured in December 2022 and detained in August 2023 for tampering with witnesses, which led the court to revoke his bail. However, his attorneys complained that the condition of the court is harsh on their client as he prepares for his trial on October 2.
