On March 8, lawyers working for former crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried said his criminal trial scheduled for October 2 may need to be delayed.
They argued that it may take longer than expected to review the evidence and prepare a defense, according to Reuters.
The lawyers sent a letter to US District Judge Lewis Kaplan stating that federal prosecutors in Manhattan had yet to present evidence. They were collecting data from devices belonging to former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison and former FTX chief technology officer Gary Wang, formerly SBF’s closest associates.
In addition, four new fraud and conspiracy charges were added late last month. This increased the number of charges against the former head of FTX to 12.
Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty to eight fraud charges in January following his arrest in December.
The credibility of witnesses could be questioned
SBF was released on $250 million bail and has been under house arrest at his parents’ home in California. Judge Kaplan had considered changing the terms of the bail after Bankman-Fried was found to have used a VPN to access the Internet.
He was previously barred from contacting former FTX employees and using privacy-focused messaging services. However, prosecutors proposed that he remain free with strict limits on the use of technology.
According to its lawyers, part of Bankman-Fried’s defense will seek to distance itself from the day-to-day operations of FTX.
They have suggested that he will try to shift the blame onto Ellison and dispute his expected testimony at his potentially delayed trial.
Rebecca Mermelstein, a former federal prosecutor in Manhattan, told Reuters: “The defendant is going to say, ‘No, you did it, you’re most responsible, and now you’re trying to blame me.'”
Questioning the credibility of cooperating witnesses is a strategy commonly used by defendants who often argue that they are motivated to lie and implicate others in an attempt to gain leniency.
FTX legal fees almost $40 million
In related news this week, it was revealed that the team of lawyers and accountants working for FTX billed a whopping $38 million for their services in January alone.
The epic bills are for a team of hundreds of attorneys, consultants, paralegals and accountants, according to the court. documents.
FTX administrators retained the law firm Sullivan & Cromwell as counsel following a billing of 14,569 labor hours for $16.8 million in January.
FTX sued crypto fund manager Grayscale this week in an attempt to unlock up to $9 billion of its Bitcoin and Ethereum Trusts.
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