U.S. DOJ Has 'Extremely Thin' Basis for Jailing FTX's Bankman-Fried Ahead of Trial: Defense

Attorneys for Sam Bankman-Fried pushed backmost against the U.S. Department of Justice's question to remand the FTX laminitis successful a tribunal filing Tuesday, saying it relied connected an "extremely thin" factual basis.

The DOJ has "jumped to conclusions" astir Bankman-Fried's conduct, the filing said, which besides pushed backmost against authorities arguments that helium had pushed the boundaries of his enslaved merchandise connected aggregate anterior occasions.

Prosecutors alleged that Bankman-Fried had shared erstwhile Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison's idiosyncratic diary with the New York Times successful an effort to harass her and perchance tamper with her grounds arsenic a imaginable witnesser successful his transgression proceedings successful October 2023.

"The defendant’s leaking of Ellison’s backstage writings is yet different lawsuit of the suspect trying to intimidate and corruptly transportation Ellison with respect to her upcoming proceedings testimony, arsenic good arsenic an effort to power oregon forestall the grounds of different imaginable proceedings witnesses by creating the specter that their astir intimate concern is astatine hazard of being reported successful the press," the DOJ said successful the filing, pointing to Bankman-Fried's erstwhile reach-out to FTX.US's wide counsel to "vet things with each other" arsenic different illustration of alleged witnesser tampering.

Bankman-Fried faces 7 antithetic charges, including securities and ligament fraud allegations, for a proceedings presently scheduled to footwear disconnected successful October. Another trial, acceptable for March, volition spot the DOJ effort Bankman-Fried again connected different 5 charges, including conspiracy to perpetrate slope fraud.

The DOJ besides announced past week that it had dropped a run concern charge, citing pact obligations.