Judge Considers Splitting SBF’s Charges

In response to a filing by prosecutors, a federal judge in the United States is reportedly considering splitting Sam Bankman-Fried’s (SBF) criminal charges into two trials.

The Wall Street Journal reported on June 15 that Judge Lewis Kaplan of the District Court for the Southern District of New York was contemplating whether or not to dismiss or separate charges in Bankman-Fried’s criminal case following an “imaginative” argument by the former FTX CEO’s legal team.

The attorneys for Bankman-Fried filed a motion arguing that he should not face allegations not included in the extradition papers from the Bahamas to the United States in 2022.

The initial indictment against SBF included eight criminal offenses, but a superseding indictment in February and an additional charge in March brought the total to 13.

Should the judge decide to separate the trials, Bankman-Fried could face a single problem focusing on the alleged bribery of a Chinese government official and other matters related to fraud at FTX and Alameda Research.

Prosecutors from the U.S. Department of Justice stated they were prepared to begin SBF’s trial on the original indictment in October, with Judge Kaplan deciding how to proceed with the remaining five charges.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the judge indicated he was unlikely to dismiss all criminal offenses before trial.

As part of a Justice Department-initiated investigation, Bankman-Fried was extradited from the Bahamas to the United States following the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX in November 2022 and allegations of misuse of customer funds.

SBF has pleaded not guilty to all charges and is primarily confined to his parents’ California residence as a condition of his bail.

Caroline Ellison, former CEO of Alameda Research, and Gary Wang, co-founder of FTX, pled guilty to charges related to alleged financial entanglements between FTX and Alameda.

A bankruptcy proceeding for FTX has also been ongoing in a Delaware court.