Some SBF charges will be dropped if Bahamas objects, U.S. prosecutors say

U.S. prosecutors will drop some charges against former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried if the Bahamian government objects, according to documents It has been submitted It took place on May 29 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

And the charges against Sam Bankman Freed are starting to fade… h/t @DecentField pic.twitter.com/JEIF0uR31i

— @amuse (@amuse) May 30, 2023

The document was filed in response to a May 8 defense motion seeking to dismiss some of Bankman-Fried’s charges. Defense attorneys argued on May 8 that four charges, including bribery of Chinese officials and campaign finance violations, were not included in the original indictment that led to Bankman-Fried’s extradition. was They therefore concluded that these additional charges violated the extradition treaty between the United States and the Bahamas and should be dismissed.

In a new response, prosecutors argue that the treaty does not prevent the United States from prosecuting defendants for additional crimes after extradition unless they are “detained, tried and punished” for additional crimes without the consent of the extradition state. bottom. . Prosecutors said they are now seeking special immunity from the Bahamas to allow Bankman-Fried to go to trial on three of the four charges challenged by the defense. However, these charges will not be imposed on him if the Bahamas do not grant immunity.

“The government will continue the trial on the new charges in the S5 indictment if the Bahamas agree to trial on these charges, but will not proceed on these counts if the Bahamas decline the government’s request. ”

The three charges that require immunity from The Bahamas include conspiracy to commit bank fraud (County 9), conspiracy to operate an unauthorized money transfer business (County 10), and conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (County 13).

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For the remaining illegal campaign donation charges, prosecutors said no exemptions were needed, as the original indictment and diplomatic documents stated Bankman-Fried agreed to extradition.

In a defense motion on May 8, Bankman-Fried’s attorneys argued that campaign finance costs were not listed in the surrender “table of charges” to which the defendants agreed. In the new documents, prosecutors argued that the charges were listed in diplomatic documents and argued that Bankman-Fried had agreed to be extradited in open court. Therefore, in their opinion, the charges should not be dismissed.

Prosecutors also argued that only the Bahamian government was entitled to challenge these charges, and that Bankman-Fried was not entitled to challenge these charges as a treaty violation.

A public hearing on the motion to dismiss is scheduled for June 15.

Bankman Fried is the founder and former CEO of cryptocurrency exchange FTX. The exchange suffered a liquidity crisis in November and went bankrupt soon after. It is estimated that it owes more than $3 billion to its creditors.

Former CEO of sister company Alameda Research, Caroline Ellison, and FTX co-founder Gary Wang, both pleaded guilty to fraud charges related to the exchange’s collapse. Bankman-Fried, however, argued that the bankruptcy was caused by management error, not fraud.