Sam Bankman-Fried Appeals Fraud Conviction, Prosecutors ‘Eager for Quick Headlines’
Tanzeel Akhtar has been covering the cryptocurrency and blockchain sector since 2015. She has written for the Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, CoinDesk and Bitcoin Magazine.
Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX, has filed a request for a new trial, claiming he was denied a fair hearing during his criminal conviction.
His legal team, in a brief filed with the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on Friday, argued that federal prosecutors were more focused on securing quick headlines than ensuring a just trial.
“He was presumed guilty by federal prosecutors eager for quick headlines,” reads the filing.
Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison in March following his conviction on seven counts of fraud and money laundering related to the collapse of FTX, a case that garnered global attention.
Bankman-Fried’s downfall began when FTX, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, dramatically collapsed, leading to billions of dollars in customer losses.
Prosecutors argued that he orchestrated a massive fraud scheme, diverting funds from FTX customers to cover financial shortfalls in his hedge fund, Alameda Research.
The case became one of the most significant financial fraud cases in recent years, drawing comparisons to infamous scandals like Enron and Bernie Madoff.
In this latest court filing, Bankman-Fried’s lawyers argue that the narrative presented during the trial was inaccurate and incomplete.
“From day one, the prevailing narrative—initially spun by the lawyers who took over FTX, quickly adopted by their contacts at the U.S. Attorney’s Office—was that Bankman-Fried had stolen billions of dollars of customer funds, driven FTX to insolvency, and caused billions in losses,” said the filing.
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