Sam Bankman-Fried, the laminitis of bankrupt cryptocurrency speech FTX, arrives astatine tribunal arsenic lawyers propulsion to transportation the justice overseeing his fraud lawsuit not to jailhouse him up of trial, astatine a courthouse successful New York, August 11, 2023.
Eduardo Munoz | Reuters
The judges successful a national appeals tribunal successful New York connected Tuesday were skeptical of arguments by a lawyer for Sam Bankman-Fried that his condemnation for a multi-billion-dollar fraud related to his cryptocurrency speech FTX and an associated hedge money should beryllium tossed out.
Bankman-Fried's attorney, Alexandra Shapiro, was astir instantly and past repeatedly interrupted by the three-judge sheet connected the 2nd Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals arsenic she tried to marque her lawsuit that SBF deserved a caller proceedings due to the fact that the archetypal 1 was "fundamentally unfair."
"From my speechmaking of the record, [there was] precise important grounds of guilt," Judge Barringon Parker told Shapiro.
"Are you earnestly suggesting to america that if your lawsuit had been capable to attest astir the relation that attorneys played successful preparing these assorted documents, the not-guilty verdicts would person rolled in?" Parker asked, arsenic Bankman-Fried's parents looked connected from the courtroom gallery.
Bankman-Fried, 33, was convicted successful November 2023 of 7 transgression counts for fraud against customers of FTX and lenders to the hedge money Alameda Research. He is serving a 25-year situation sentence.
Defense lawyer Alexandra Shapiro makes oral arguments earlier United States Circuit Judges for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit Barington D. Parker Jr., Eunice C. Lee and Maria Araujo Kahn during erstwhile cryptocurrency enforcement Sam Bankman-Fried's entreaty of his fraud condemnation successful New York City, U.S., November 4, 2025 successful a courtroom sketch.
Jane Rosenberg | Reuters
Shapiro argued that rulings by the proceedings judge, Lewis Kaplan of U.S. District Court successful Manhattan, which included limiting what SBF could attest about, unfairly favored prosecutors.
That "allowed the prosecution to contiguous this morally compelling tale, but prevented the defence from showing that the communicative wasn't true," she said.
"The defence was chopped disconnected astatine the knees by the judge's rulings," Shapiro told the panel.
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She said prosecutors were allowed to falsely reason astatine proceedings that customers and lenders had mislaid billions of dollars, and would ne'er beryllium capable to retrieve that money.
In reality, she said, it was her knowing that 98% of each FTX creditors person received 120% of their investments positive interest, and that the FTX property has already paid $8 cardinal to creditors and different $1 cardinal successful ineligible fees. She added that determination is different $8 cardinal near to screen $2 cardinal successful remaining claims.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Thane Rehn spent the bulk of his clip during the proceeding answering questions by the justice implicit however an $11 cardinal forfeiture against SBF is structured, and what volition hap to that forfeiture bid if each victims are made full earlier the full magnitude is spent.
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