The disgraced crypto moguls’ request hinges on a technicality referring to his voluntary extradition from the Bahamas.
As Sam Bankman-Fried awaits his trial this autumn with Doordash as his only solace, his lawyers are busy attempting to get him as easy one as possible.
After his antics nearly caused his bail to be reversed, ultimately leading to his ban from video games and most of the internet, SBF’s lawyers have spent countless hours brainstorming ways to ease a trial that could put him away for a long time.
Attempt at Dismissal of Most Fraud Charges
On the 8th of May, SBF’s lawyers followed up on two pretrial memorandums notifying the courts that Sam Bankman Fried is attempting to get some of the charges stacked against him dismissed.
According to the official motion filed, SBF’s lawyers are requesting the dismissal of charges of bribery, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and running an unlicensed money transmitter.
The motion also requested the dismissal of charges for improper political contributions – which clashes with earlier attempts by Sam Bankman-Fried to have the funds from said political contributions returned.
SBF “Does Not Acknowledge” Certain Accusations
According to SBF’s legal team, the motion to dismiss the charges above hinges on his voluntary extradition to the United States from the Bahamas. If SBF agreed to be extradited to face trial for certain offenses, the lawyers argue that filing additional charges post-facto goes against U.S. court precedent.
“Thus, the plain terms of the Extradition Treaty require that the Government obtain the express consent of the Bahamas to prosecute Mr. Bankman-Fried on any new charges brought after Mr. Bankman-Fried’s extradition—silence cannot suffice for consent. […] The defense understands the Government has informed the Bahamas of the new charges added in the S3 Indictment and S5 Indictment, but the Bahamas has not consented to those charges.”
It will be interesting to see how this motion will be reconciled with the information provided willingly by other FTX Group hotshots. Since Gary Wang and Caroline Ellison have both entered plea deals with the U.S. Government, prosecutors should have plenty of ammunition needed to file new charges against SBF.
Ultimately, this request could have the accusations removed from the trial set for the 2nd of October – only to have them filed again in another that would follow shortly after.
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