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US prosecutors say SBF will be tried on original 8 criminal charges — for now

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The felony trial of FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried shall be going forward with the eight prices he was initially pinned for by United States prosecutors — not less than for now.

In a June 14 courtroom submitting, prosecutors with the U.S. Division of Justice (DoJ) wrote a letter to district decide Lewis Kaplan saying they’d proceed to attempt Bankman-Fried on the eight prices they levied in opposition to him in December 2022.

The DoJ attorneys cited a movement filed by Bankman-Fried within the Bahamas, who argued that lots of the 13 prices he confronted have been not in the original indictment, which was the basis for his extradition from the country. As this is likely to be a lengthy process, the prosecutors wrote, they’re “prepared to proceed to trial as scheduled on the counts contained in the original indictment.“

“It now appears that litigation of that motion will take some time and may not be resolved until near or even after the trial date.”

The Supreme Court of The Bahamas said June 14 that Bankman-Fried must be given the opportunity to formally challenge the new charges before the country can agree to them.

Following Bankman-Fried’s extradition the DOJ unsealed an additional four charges in February relating to fraud and fraud conspiracy charges along with an additional charge in March alleging bribes to Chinese officials. 

Related: SBF seeks to sever new charges from trial, says proceedings may take ‘years’

Bankman-Fried is the founder and former CEO of crypto exchange FTX. He was originally charged in December in connection with his management of the failed exchange. The exchange suffered a liquidity crisis in November, leading to its bankruptcy shortly thereafter.

FTX is estimated to owe creditors over $3 billion. Prosecutors allege that Bankman-Fried commingled customer funds and misled investors about FTX’s risk management practices, leading to losses for investors and customers.

Caroline Ellison, former CEO of sister company Alameda Research, and FTX co-founder Gary Wang have both pleaded guilty to fraud charges in connection with the exchange’s collapse. However, Bankman-Fried has claimed that management mistakes and not fraud caused the collapse.