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Sam Bankman-Fried’s fraud trial was “basically unfair” and the jury solely heard “one facet of the story”, the FTX founder’s lawyer informed a New York appeals court docket in an try to get his conviction overturned.
The previous cryptocurrency mogul, who was final yr sentenced to 25 years in jail after being convicted on seven counts of fraud and cash laundering, ought to have been allowed to inform the jury that a number of the investments he made with clients’ funds have been extremely helpful, his lawyer Alexandra Shapiro mentioned.
Bankman-Fried was convicted of utilizing clients’ funds to make dangerous bets, in addition to for different makes use of together with political donations, after telling them their cash was being held in a secure place. Shapiro mentioned the argument in regards to the investments’ worth would have supported his case that he was appearing in “good religion”, and that as a substitute the federal government had painted a “false” image that FTX clients’ cash was “gone without end”.
Authorities lawyer Nathan Rehn responded that there had been “overwhelming proof” that Bankman-Fried “dedicated a large-scale fraud on the shoppers of FTX”.
“Proof in regards to the potential final restoration to victims . . . merely isn’t a defence to fraud,” he mentioned. “It wasn’t related that in the end down the road the investments would possibly pay out.”
The enchantment by Bankman-Fried, who didn’t seem in court docket on Tuesday, comes quickly after President Donald Trump pardoned Changpeng Zhao, one other high-profile crypto business government who based the digital forex change Binance.
Zhao, referred to as CZ, pleaded responsible to money-laundering violations in 2023 and served 4 months in jail. When requested by the information present 60 Minutes in regards to the pardon and the looks of corruption, Trump mentioned he knew “nothing in regards to the man”.
Bankman-Fried’s conviction marked an abrupt downfall for an entrepreneur who was as soon as among the many most celebrated figures within the crypto industry. FTX, the change he based, imploded in 2022. The appeals court docket judges didn’t instantly attain a call within the case, by which he’s looking for a retrial with a distinct decide.
Trump, who has taken a crypto-friendly strategy throughout his second time period, has additionally pardoned Ross Ulbricht, who operated Silk Street, a darkish internet market for medication, hacking providers and different unlawful objects. Some bitcoin evangelists had campaigned towards Ulbricht’s imprisonment.
Different crypto figures’ convictions nonetheless stand. Alex Mashinsky, the founding father of crypto lender Celsius, was in Could sentenced to 12 years in jail and Do Kwon, the tycoon behind the $40bn collapse of the TerraUSD crypto token, pleaded responsible to fraud in August.
Bankman-Fried’s arguments embody that the decrease court docket “illegally” barred a defence that he relied on steerage from his attorneys, that directions to the jury lowered the burden on prosecutors, and {that a} $11bn forfeiture judgment was illegal, in keeping with court docket filings.
Bankman-Fried, who previously donated closely to Democrats, has appeared to court docket the political proper since Trump returned to workplace. Earlier this yr he spoke to conservative media determine and former Fox Information discuss present host Tucker Carlson in an interview from jail in Brooklyn.
The New York Solar reported in February that, in a collection of interviews from jail, Bankman-Fried had mentioned he was affected by the “politicisation of the [Department of Justice]”, echoing the president’s personal phrases, and that he not sees himself as being on the centre-left.
Bankman-Fried employed Shapiro, an appeals specialist, after his conviction. She has additionally labored for rapper Sean “Diddy” Combs, Archegos founder Invoice Hwang and Charlie Javice, the start-up founder convicted of defrauding JPMorgan Chase.
Bankman-Fried had taken the uncommon resolution to testify in his personal defence throughout his month-long trial. He admitted to jurors he made “errors” whereas operating FTX however denied defrauding clients and traders.
