Embattled FTX owner Sam Bankman-Fried is asking the court to remove about 10 charges against him before his scheduled criminal trial, which will happen later this year in October. The former CEO of the collapsed crypto exchanges, through his lawyers, has not pleaded guilty to his charges, and he is asking that some of them be dropped.
A retrieved court document filed in the Southern District Court in New York on May 8 showed the lawyers of the embattled FTX founder asking the judges to drop all the charges against their client except for only three. The only three charges which the lawyers have not asked to drop are the charge against conspiracy to commit commodities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Molly White, a crypto researcher, revealed the information on Twitter while supporting the claims with documents. "Sam Bankman-Fried has filed motions to dismiss all but three charges in the criminal case against him.
The charges he is not contesting atm are:
5. Conspiracy to commit commodities fraud
6. Conspiracy to commit securities fraud
and
11. Conspiracy to commit money laundering," she said on Twitter.
According to Molly White, the least part of the issues comes down to some additional charges that were added to the SBF case when he was extradited to the US. "At least part of it seems to come down to the fact that additional charges were added after SBF's extradition agreement was made," she said.
Sam Bankman-Fried was extradited from Bahama to the US to face eight charges due to the events that happened prior to and after the FTX collapse. However, his legal team has argued that the added legal charges" violates the Treaty’s rule of specialty provision."
One of the major arguments of the SBF legal team is that the rule of specialty only allows an offender to face those charges they were extradited for. SBF lawyers are hanging on to this rule to remove some of the charges against the FTX founder.
"During the extradition proceedings in The Bahamas, it was the understanding of all parties in court, coram judice¸ and the Court itself, that the specialty provisions applied notwithstanding the use of the simplified procedure. There was no waiver of the rule of specialty. To the contrary, there was an express acknowledgment that it applied," SBF lawyers argued.
Charges SBF is Pleading to Remove
SBF is pleading that the court dismisses numerous charges against him. Some charges the SBF pleads to be dropped include conspiracy to commit bank fraud and other individual wire fraud charges. The individual wire fraud charges are based on all his activities while FTX and Alameda were still running and after the FTX collapse. Another charge against SBF, added on the 28th of March, was based on the alleged $40 million bribery of a Chinese government official.
SBF's legal team also asks the court to remove the charges of "conspiracy to defraud the United States." According to these lawyers, the United States government has failed to provide a valid claim of SBF offenses. They also pointed out the lack of evidence in many cases, saying the charges lack "reference to any U.S. bank accounts, including any bank accounts affiliated with FTX or Alameda."