DOJ seeks to dismiss star lineup of expert witnesses in Sam Bankman-Fried trial

1 year ago

The U.S. Department of Justice wants the tribunal to disqualify each the adept witnesses of Sam Bankman-Fried, per an Aug. 28 court filing.

According to the DOJ, SBF experts’ disclosure filings are insufficient, and their acquisition is misleading. The prosecutors further argued that these witnesses’ grounds whitethorn beryllium irrelevant to the case.

The DOJ discredited the essence of calling the witnesses due to the fact that determination are already radical with capable adept cognition connected issues specified arsenic the FTX code, oregon the issues connected proceedings bash not subordinate to what the experts volition springiness grounds on.

“There is nary request for a abstracted ‘expert’ witnesser to attest connected specified matters, particularly successful airy of the information that specified grounds would duplicate the grounds of information witnesses,” it said.

If granted, the question volition impact each 7 adept witnesses introduced by SBF, including a lawyer, a instrumentality professor, a information analytics expert, a fiscal expert, and consultants.

The filing besides noted that a projected witness, Peter Vineland, is listed arsenic a fiscal services manufacture expert. But determination is thing to amusement helium has capable cognition astir the crypto industry.

Meanwhile, the SBF squad is besides pushing that a fiscal investigation adept that the authoritative wants to telephone should not beryllium allowed due to the fact that of the quality of his testimony.

Meet SBF Witnesses

  • Lawrence Akka KC

Akka is an English barrister specializing successful commercialized instrumentality and commercialized disputes, peculiarly those involving exertion and civilian fraud. The lawyer is tasked with reviewing FTX’s presumption of work and is charging £800 per hr for his services.

Per the filing, helium would speech astir FTX’s presumption of work lacking a ceremonial declaration of spot astir fiat currency. Instead, they established a contractual creditor-debtor relationship. Consequently, the bankrupt speech was not obligated to allocate fiat currency for circumstantial purposes.

  • Thomas E. Bishop

Bishop has implicit 30 years of tax, fiscal investigative, instrumentality enforcement, and backstage sector
consulting experience. He is charging $400 per hr for his services.

The tribunal filing shows that helium would beryllium testifying connected the “calculations of fiscal figures and metrics (e.g., nett plus value) for FTX Trading Ltd, Alameda Research LLC, and different entities based connected publically disposable information.”

  • Brian Kim

Kim has implicit 15 years of acquisition successful physics find and integer forensic investigations. He is simply a manager astatine Guidepost Solutions, a steadfast specializing successful managing, directing, and supervising physics discovery, structured information analytics, and integer forensics.

According to the filing, Kim would supply “testimony concerning papers metadata and imaginable oregon permissible inferences drawn therefrom.” He is charging $650 per hour.

  • Joseph M. Pimbley

Pimbley has implicit 30 years of acquisition successful derivatives and securities trading, portfolio and hazard management, trading systems, recognition ratings, structured finance, banking, and concern advisory.

The filing shows that helium would attest however FTX’s bundle infrastructure had insufficiently
robust reporting and insufficient investigating and prime assurance of information integrity and code. He besides opines however these deficiencies were “not disposable to outer users oregon recipients of infrastructure generated hazard and fiscal reports.”

He is charging $720 per hour.

  • Professor Bradley Smith

Smith is the Josiah H. Blackmore II/Shirley M. Nault Professor of Law astatine Capital University Law School.

The instrumentality prof volition offer insights into United States run concern laws, detailing publication restrictions and firm money usage regulations.

He is charging $1,200 per hour.

  • DR. Peter U. Vinella

Vinella is the Managing Director astatine PVA Toucan International, an adept services and consulting firm.

He has a doctorate successful mathematics and would beryllium testifying connected assorted topics, including however the crypto manufacture operated earlier FTX’s launch, the regulatory situation for crypto firms, and however the failed speech operated done this situation.

The filing did not supply accusation connected the magnitude helium is charging for his services,

  • Professor Andrew Di Wu

Wu is the NBD Bancorp Assistant Professor of Business Administration and Assistant
Professor of Technology and Operations astatine the Stephen M. Ross School of Business,
University of Michigan.

The prof would supply testimony astir “blockchain exertion and its cardinal components,” “the exertion down and the creation, use, and functions of cryptocurrency coins and tokens.” He would besides connection insights connected “business practices related to exchange-issued tokens” and “common practices successful the cryptocurrency manufacture astir the making and taking of loans.”

He is charging $650 per hour.

The station DOJ seeks to disregard prima lineup of adept witnesses successful Sam Bankman-Fried trial appeared archetypal connected CryptoSlate.

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