FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried urges court to dismiss charges

Lawyers representing Sam Bankman-Fried want all but three charges against him dismissed in a filing on May 8.

FTX founder and former CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) is seeking to have up to 10 criminal charges against him dismissed in court, arguing for several counts that there has been a failure to state an offense. 

According to court documents filed in the southern district court of New York on May 8, SBF’s legal team has pushed to dismiss everything apart from three counts of conspiracy to commit commodities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Sam Bankman-Fried has filed motions to dismiss all but three charges in the criminal case against him.

The charges he is not contesting atm are:
5. Conspiracy to commit commodities fraud
6. Conspiracy to commit securities fraud
and
11. Conspiracy to commit money laundering pic.twitter.com/0Dk1zxEw4j

— Molly White (@molly0xFFF) May 9, 2023

Commenting on the move, crypto researcher Molly White suggested that “at least part of it seems to come down to the fact that additional charges were added after SBF’s extradition agreement was made.”

U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan will hear arguments on June 15 on this dismissal request, and prosecutors will have until May 29 to respond.

Related: FTX bankruptcy judge approves sale of LedgerX

Despite the rest of SBF’s inner circle all pleading guilty and agreeing to cooperate with prosecutors, the man himself has pleaded not guilty to the charges laid against him.

SBF has been on house arrest in his parent’s home in Paolo Alto since December, and in the most recently development, Judge Lewis Kaplan approved the taps on SBF’s parents’ phones as meeting bail conditions, despite SBF’s legal team requesting a revision.

Magzine: Best and worst countries for crypto taxes — Plus crypto tax tips

This is a developing story, and further information will be added as it becomes available.