The prosecutors of the United States requested a judge to decline a request by former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried for a new trial, claiming that the jailed crypto official has not been successful in showing any legitimate new evidence.
The proposal of Bankman-Fried, filed in February by his mother on his behalf, cited new evidence to reopen a case in which a 2023 jury convicted him of fraud and conspiracy associated with the decline of FTX. He is convicted with a 25-year prison sentence.
In the February motion, Bankman-Fried claimed that two ex-FTX officials, Daniel Chapsky and Ryan Salame, could have questioned the narrative of the prosecutor that he cheated FTX customers had they borne witness.
The ex-CEOs argued that both rejected testifying because of the fear of retaliation. As per the Wednesday filing, prosecutors declined that argument, mentioning that the witnesses were completely known to the defence before trial; conveying testimony does not qualify as recently discovered evidence.
The Rejection of the Argument
The decision of the defence not to put the witnesses on his witness list or force their testimony precludes any argument that their post-trial views are recently discovered, the prosecutors stated.
The prosecutors also claimed that even if the testimony were looked at, it would not have changed the result of the case, as there was overwhelming evidence showing that Bankman-Fried shifted the transfer of billions of dollars in customer funds to Alameda.
The motion of Bankman-Fried also continued his prolonged argument that FTX was not bankrupt and that customers could eventually be repaid. The prosecutors rejected that argument, mentioning that FTX has a shortage of the cryptocurrency it promised customers, at one point holding around 105 bitcoin against customer claims nearing 100,000 bitcoin.
They also added that the ultimate recovery of assets via bankruptcy proceedings does not justify the underlying crime.
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