Lawyers of one-time crytpo mogul Sam Bankman-Fried declare in an attraction filed Friday that the imprisoned FTX founder was the sufferer of a rush to judgment by a public that wrongly believed he was responsible of stealing billions of {dollars} from his clients and traders earlier than he was even arrested.
The attorneys filed papers with the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals asking a three-judge panel to reverse his conviction and assign the case to a brand new choose for a retrial, saying the trial choose “imposed a draconian quarter-century sentence on this first-time, non-violent offender” after they contend he hurried the jury into reaching a one-day verdict to cap off a fancy four-week trial.
“Sam Bankman-Fried was by no means presumed harmless. He was presumed responsible – earlier than he was even charged. He was presumed responsible by the media. He was presumed responsible by the FTX debtor property and its attorneys. He was presumed responsible by federal prosecutors anticipating fast headlines. And he was presumed responsible by the choose who presided over his trial,” the attorneys wrote.
They stated the passing of time has forged Bankman-Fried in a greater mild.
“From day one, the prevailing narrative – initially spun by the attorneys who took over FTX, rapidly adopted by their contacts on the U.S. Attorney’s Office – was that Bankman-Fried had stolen billions of {dollars} of buyer funds, pushed FTX to insolvency, and prompted billions in losses,” the lawyer stated.
“Now, practically two years later, a really completely different image is rising – one confirming FTX was by no means bancrupt and, in truth, had belongings value billions to repay its clients. But the jury at Bankman-Fried’s trial by no means received to see that image,” they added.
Bankman-Fried, 32, was convicted final November of fraud and conspiracy a 12 months after his corporations collapsed into chapter 11 as traders rushed to withdraw funds. A jury concluded that a few of their cash had been improperly spent on actual property, investments, superstar endorsements, political contributions and lavish existence.
At its top, FTX was handled as a pioneer and darling within the rising cryptocurrency business, with a Super Bowl commercial, testimony by Bankman-Fried earlier than Congress and endorsements from celebrities comparable to quarterback Tom Brady and comic Larry David.
Bankman-Fried was arrested in December 2022 following his extradition from the Bahamas, simply weeks after his firm filed for chapter and days after a few of his former high executives started cooperating with federal prosecutors. Some of them testified in opposition to him at trial.
He initially remained beneath strict bail situations at his dad and mom’ house in Palo Alto, California, however Judge Lewis A. Kaplan in Manhattan revoked his bail shortly earlier than the trial after concluding that Bankman-Fried was attempting to affect seemingly witnesses, together with an ex-girlfriend who had served as chief govt at Alameda Research, a crypto hedge fund.
The fallen mogul is serving a 25-year sentence after he was sentenced in March in what a prosecutor as soon as described as one of many largest monetary frauds in U.S. historical past.
A prosecutor’s spokesperson declined to remark Friday.
Source: www.dailysabah.com