Bankman-Fried Appeals Judge’s Jail Decision as October Trial Looms

Sam Bankman-Fried, the Founder of the insolvent cryptocurrency exchange, FTX, is finally challenging the decision of Judge Lewis Kaplan to jail him ahead of his trial billed to start on October 3rd, according to Reuters. Earlier this month, Judge Kaplan ordered Bankman-Fried to be imprisoned for attempting twice to tamper with witnesses in the lawsuit. The case was initiated against him by the United States over the collapse of FTX in November last year.

Bankman-Fried Appeals Pre-Trial Jail Sentence

According to a court filing seen by Reuters, the former crypto billionaire’s lawyers entered the appeal at the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals. In revoking Bankman-Fried’s bail, Judge Kaplan of the US District Court of the Southern District of New York agreed with US prosecutors that Bankman-Fried violated the terms of his bail granted on a $250 million bond in December.

Specifically, the prosecutors contended that the FTX Founder sought to intimidate Caroline Ellison, this former ally and romantic partner, by sharing her personal details with the New York Times. However, in the appeal, Bankman-Fried’s lawyers asserted that the former FTX CEO simply exercised his First Amendment right through the action.

The First Amendment is the first of ten amendments to the US Constitution that are collectively known as the Bill of Rights. The amendment guarantees the freedom of religion, speech, press and assembly, among others.

In their argument, Bankman-Fried’s lawyers wondered how Bankman-Fried’s action could be considered a threat to Ellison when the details shared with the New York Times were her “own statements”. The article published by the media establishment described details contained in the documents it obtained as “personal and raw”, adding that the documents illustrate the complexity of the relationship between Bankman-Fried and Ellison.

Currently, Bankman-Fried is under detention at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn. In the appeal, the crypto entrepreneur’s legal counsel said the FTX Founder is being handicapped from analysing discovery materials from prosecutors and properly preparing for his trial.

The lawyers have repeatedly criticised as inadequate the time the former FTX CEO is permitted to spend with his legal team. In a separate document filed on Friday before the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, the lawyers continued to raise concern, calling for Bankman-Fried’s temporary release.

Specifically, they argued that “extraordinary accommodations” permitted by the court still fell short of what is needed for Bankman-Fried to adequately prepare for his upcoming criminal trial. Furthermore, they pointed out that prosecutors last Thursday generated about four million pages of documents and a significant portion of them still needs to be cross-checked by Bankman-Fried.

Finance Magnates reported last week that the court permitted the embattled crypto entrepreneur’s lawyers to conduct “unlimited” prison visits to Bankman-Fried, according to a court order seen by CoinDesk. The court also granted the FTX Founder “frequent access” to a computer, with certain “selected materials” only viewable using a hard drive

The decision came after the lawyers said meeting Bankman-Fried only twice a week was completely inadequate. Furthermore, the legal team previously claimed that the former FTX boss was being denied a vegan meal plan and “is literally now subsisting on bread and water.”

Meanwhile, Bankman-Fried last week also pleaded not guilty to an updated indictment containing seven counts of charges. He is to be tried separately on five counts of charges in March next year.

ASIC suspends AFS license; FCA warns against 5 fraudulent firms; read today's news nuggets.

This article was written by Solomon Oladipupo at www.financemagnates.com.

* This article was originally published here