U.S. Justice Department Agrees to Try Sam Bankman-Fried on Original Charges Only for Now

The U.S. Department of Justice intends to lone effort FTX laminitis and erstwhile CEO Sam Bankman-Fried connected the 8 charges it brought successful December 2022 for now.

Prosecutors with the DOJ wrote precocious Wednesday nighttime that they would hold to effort Bankman-Fried connected a fistful of charges, including ligament fraud, securities fraud and wealth laundering, aft a tribunal successful the Bahamas blocked the section authorities from agreeing to further charges.

Bankman-Fried faces 13 full charges, but 5 of these were brought arsenic superseding indictments successful February and March 2023. In 1 of his motions to dismiss past month, attorneys for Bankman-Fried wrote that the authorities of the Bahamas had to hold to the further charges – which see slope fraud, operating an unlicensed wealth transmitter and bribery – earlier the onetime CEO could beryllium tried.

On Tuesday, a court successful the Bahamas blocked the authorities from agreeing to those further charges until Bankman-Fried's defence squad has had a accidental to combat against that approval.

In a letter addressed to Judge Lewis Kaplan, of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, U.S. Attorney Damian Williams and his squad wrote that the Bahamas tribunal combat whitethorn not extremity until adjacent Bankman-Fried's proceedings successful the U.S.

These charges are counts 4 (fraud connected FTX customers tied to derivatives), 6 (securities fraud against FTX investors), 9 (conspiracy to perpetrate slope fraud), 10 (conspiracy to run an unlicensed wealth transmitter business) and 13 (conspiracy to bribe overseas authorities officials) successful the latest superseding indictment.

"In airy of the uncertainty concerning erstwhile The Bahamas volition render a determination with respect to specialty, and to simplify the impervious astatine proceedings and alteration the load of proceedings mentation connected the defendant, the Government is prepared to proceed to proceedings arsenic scheduled connected the counts contained successful the archetypal Indictment," the missive said.

Those archetypal charges see counts 1 (conspiracy to perpetrate ligament fraud connected customers of FTX), 2 (wire fraud connected customers of FTX), 3 (conspiracy to perpetrate fraud connected FTX customers tied to derivatives), 5 (conspiracy to perpetrate securities fraud against FTX investors), 7 (conspiracy to perpetrate ligament fraud connected lenders to Alameda Research), 8 (wire fraud connected lenders to Alameda Research), 11 (conspiracy to perpetrate wealth laundering) and 12 (conspiracy to marque unlawful governmental contributions and defraud the Federal Elections Commission).

The prosecutors requested a proceedings day successful the archetypal 4th of 2024 for the further charges. Bankman-Fried is presently acceptable to spell to proceedings this October.

Bankman-Fried's defence squad filed further motions to disregard astir of those different charges connected assorted grounds, though the DOJ has pushed backmost against their arguments. A proceeding is acceptable for 10:30 a.m. ET connected June 15 for oral arguments connected the motions to dismiss.

A second letter filed by prosecutors connected Wednesday nighttime addressed claims antecedently made by Bankman-Fried's squad alleging the DOJ had failed to supply each of the find materials requested.

According to this 2nd letter, the DOJ believes it had provided astir of those find materials, but said it faced delays for assorted reasons including method issues.