Prosecutors argued there was a “strong public interest” in resolving a major case against the disgraced cryptocurrency exchange founder.
U.S. prosecutors have opted not to retry Sam Bankman Fried, the founder of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, who has already been convicted of fraud and money laundering, and have chosen to proceed to sentencing.
Prosecutors said in a letter filed in a New York court on Friday that pursuing a retrial for the disgraced tycoon would only delay what is already a strong case against him.
“Given the practical realities and the public’s strong interest in an expedited resolution of this matter, the government intends to proceed to sentencing on the charges for which the defendant was convicted at trial,” prosecutors wrote in a statement by Judge Lewis Kaplan. stated in a letter addressed to. He presided over Bankman Freed’s first criminal trial last year.
In November, a jury found Bankman Freed guilty of seven charges, including fraud, embezzlement and conspiracy.
The 31-year-old is accused of using billions of dollars earned from FTX customer deposits to cover hedge fund losses, pay off loans, buy luxury real estate, and spend large sums of money on other personal expenses.
At trial, he admitted he had made a “mistake” that resulted in someone being hurt, but maintained he had not intended to steal and pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Billions of dollars have been lost since Bankman Freed’s crimes came to light in 2022, further exacerbating the downturn in the cryptocurrency market that began earlier that year.
Federal prosecutors have previously described the case as “one of the largest financial frauds in American history.”
Bankman Fried is scheduled to be sentenced on March 28, when he could be sentenced to up to 110 years in prison.
Prosecutors argued that much of the evidence that could be introduced in the second trial had already been presented in the first trial, and that the second trial would have no impact on the prison sentence.
It also said that if the judgment is delayed, the victims will not be able to benefit from a confiscation order or compensation order.
Bankman Freed plans to appeal the conviction.
He had previously been extradited from the Bahamas, where the company was based.
The United States and the Bahamas have since clashed over which country’s prosecutors have legal jurisdiction and the right to prosecute him. U.S. prosecutors wrote Friday that the U.S. government has “no timeline for when the Bahamas will respond to its request.”
Bankman Fried, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) graduate, has been in jail since August, with his bail suspended after a judge concluded he may have cheated with a witness scheduled for trial. Canceled.
