Cryptocurrency entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried, facing legal action regarding the collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange last year, has once again pleaded not guilty.
Sam Bankman-Fried Is Pleading Not Guilty
Cryptocurrency entrepreneur Sam Bankman-Fried, facing legal action regarding the collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange last year, has once again pleaded not guilty, this time to a reduced set of charges.
Bankman-Fried's legal team is concurrently fighting for improved access to their client, who is currently detained at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York.
Bankman-Fried, who once operated his crypto ventures from the Bahamas, has been accused of orchestrating an extensive fraud at FTX and its trading affiliate Alameda Research, both of which collapsed in November. His trial is scheduled to begin on October 2.
The 31-year-old former co-founder of FTX appeared in federal court in Manhattan on Tuesday and entered his plea to seven counts of fraud and money laundering while wearing an inmate uniform. These accusations are included in a new US indictment that was submitted on August 14 and has far fewer counts than the original. Charges that were not covered by the Bahamian extradition agreement were divided into a separate proceeding.
Bankman-Fried's $250 million bail was revoked and he is presently being detained. Due to their limited access to their client, his legal counsel noted that it was difficult to put together a strong defense. The defense team contended that Bankman-Fried's Sixth Amendment right to counsel was being infringed because he was denied the opportunity to examine the important evidence in the case during his 11-day detention.
Another of his attorneys, Mark Cohen, brought up other problems, such as a lack of access to prescribed drugs and an unfulfilled request for vegan meals.
Previously, Bankman-Fried had contended that five of the 13 counts in a previous indictment were not covered by the extradition agreement that made it easier for him to return to the US. Later, these five counts were dismissed from the case, along with a sixth charge.
