A federal judge with jurisdiction over the case against former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) has dismissed defense counsel’s motion to dismiss all but three criminal charges against him.
In a lawsuit filed June 27 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Judge Lewis Kaplan said: issued Memorandum of Opinion on Motion to Inhibit the Discovery and Disclosure of Certain Information Relevant to SBF Criminal Cases. Bankman-Fried’s legal team filed a motion on May 8 aimed at having judges dismiss 10 of the 13 criminal charges he faces, but if that happens, the product will be sold. Only fraud conspiracies, securities fraud conspiracies and money laundering conspiracies remain.
The judge considered whether to dismiss 10 charges, including wire fraud, conspiracy to wire fraud, and campaign finance violations. He cited precedent from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, denying most of the basis for the allegations.
“The dismissal of charges is an ‘exceptional remedy’ reserved only in very limited circumstances involving fundamental rights,” Kaplan said. “The Second Circuit ruled that dismissal was an ‘extreme sanction’ that had been permitted ‘only in very limited and extreme circumstances’ and that ‘especially where serious criminal conduct was involved’ was a ‘genuinely extreme sanction.’ I decided that I had to be prepared for the case.”
In his conclusion, the judge added:
“The court has considered all of the parties’ arguments. Unless addressed here, the arguments are moot or unfounded.”
Bankman-Fried faces all eight indictments originally filed in December 2022, with four added as part of a replacement indictment in February 2023, related to the former CEO’s alleged bribery of Chinese government officials. One will be indicted in March 2023. However, the final five charges were added after SBF’s extradition from the Bahamas and will be dealt with in a separate trial scheduled to begin in March 2024. His first trial is scheduled to begin in October.
Related: FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried Now Faces Two Criminal Trials
The former FTX CEO has pleaded not guilty to all charges. Former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison and FTX co-founder Gary Wang, December 2022 He pleaded guilty to related federal fraud charges.
The US Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission are expected to file civil lawsuits against SBF after the criminal trials are completed. FTX bankruptcy proceedings are also ongoing in the District of Delaware.
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