Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried Seeks New Trial Nearly Two Years After Fraud Conviction

Oral arguments regarding the appeal of Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), the disgraced founder of FTX, are scheduled to take place in Manhattan on Tuesday as he seeks a new trial.

Key Takeaways

Sam Bankman-Fried's lawyers will argue for a new trial, claiming he was presumed guilty before his conviction.
The appeal is taking place almost two years after Bankman-Fried was found guilty of fraud related to FTX.
Multiple former associates testified against him during the original trial.
Bankman-Fried received a 25-year prison sentence after being convicted of misusing funds, costing investors $8 billion.

SBF Seeks Legal Recourse

Lawyers representing Bankman-Fried are preparing to make their case for a new trial in New York City on November 4. In a court document filed in September 2024, his legal team contended that the ex-crypto CEO was “presumed guilty” prior to his conviction.

The filing highlighted concerns about the district court's fairness, stating, “Throughout the proceedings, the district court made little pretense of objectivity or even-handedness.” The document also criticized the judge for undermining Bankman-Fried's defenses and making disparaging remarks about his testimony both during pretrial hearings and in front of the jury.

Consequences for FTX Founder and Crypto Executives

This appeal hearing comes nearly two years after Bankman-Fried was convicted on criminal fraud charges connected to his tenure as the head of the ill-fated crypto exchange, FTX. During the high-profile trial, several former associates testified against him, including Gary Wang, FTX's chief technical officer; Nishad Singh, the former head of engineering; and Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research.

In 2024, Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for orchestrating a significant fraud scheme that resulted in the loss of $8 billion for FTX investors.

Recently, a post from Bankman-Fried’s official GETTR account claimed that “Biden’s anti-crypto SEC/DOJ went after me” and suggested his arrest in 2022 was a strategy to stop him from testifying before Congress the following day. “They had me arrested weeks before the crypto bill I was working on was set for a vote—and the night before I was set to testify before Congress,” the post claimed.

Despite these assertions, it remains uncertain whether Bankman-Fried's arguments will be successful in court.