With former FTX boss Sam Bankman Fried’s (SBF)’s first day in court docket quick approaching, specialists say his paths to acquittal are trying fairly scant.
On one hand, authorities prosecutors have already secured cooperation and plea offers from main figures intently tied to the founder’s alleged fraud scheme. On the opposite, Bankman Fried’s dangerous behavior of over-communication has solely heightened the dangers that prosecutors catch him in a lie when he probably testifies.
“I feel it should be fairly overwhelming if it is dropped at a jury in the identical method that it was specified by the indictment,” stated Daniel C. Silva – a former prosecutor of fraudulent cryptocurrency platform BitConnect – to Decrypt final week.
As specified by December, SBF has been accused of sweeping types of monetary fraud together with wire fraud, securities fraud, and financial institution fraud. A number of key executives tied to the founder and his trade have already pled responsible to conspiring with SBF in committing such crimes, together with co-founder Gary Wang and engineering head Nisha Singh.
One other witness contains former Alameda Analysis CEO Caroline Ellison – SBF’s former girlfriend whose diary he leaked to the media in July. The stunt resulted in his bail being revoked for witness tampering, and its contents are actually probably for use by prosecutors at trial.
In accordance with Jordan Estes, a former prosecutor with the Southern District of New York, Ellison’s presence might convey “drama” to the trial that finally works towards Bankman-Fried.”As a prosecutor in a fraud case, that may be actually essential for telling the story and grabbing the jury’s consideration,” she stated.
If Bankman-Fried seeks a profitable protection, specialists say he’ll should persuade the jury that he didn’t willingly commit any crimes at FTX. A part of this technique might contain cross-examining the prosecution’s personal witnesses, corresponding to Ellison. Nevertheless, such a protection can be a troublesome promote with out supporting paperwork, in keeping with lawyer Paul Tuchmann.
Former SEC Lawyer Weighs In
Ex-SEC lawyer John Reed Stark supplied his predictions for the way the trial would play out on Monday, predicting that SBF’s probabilities of victory are slim to none. The prosecution’s witnesses, Bankman-Fried’s “blabbermouth,” the skilled investigators dealing with FTX’s chapter are all elements weighing towards the defunct trade’s founder.
“Hardly ever within the historical past of economic fraud prosecutions has a DOJ staff possessed this stage of unconstrained entry to such a rare treasure trove of witnesses and proof,” he wrote to Twitter.
