Sam Bankman-Fried Fails in Attempt to Dismiss Criminal Charges

United States District Judge Lewis Kaplan has dismissed the plea from Sam Bankman-Fried to throw out the criminal charges leveled against him. According to Bankman-Fried, the charges violate the “rule of specialty” within the extradition agreement between the Bahamas and the US.

On June 27, 2023, Kaplan ruled against Bankman-Fried, the controversial co-founder of FTX, who was seeking to have counts 4, 6, 9, 10, 12, and 13 of the post-extradition charges dismissed. The basis of his argument was that the charges exceeded the parameters of the “rule of specialty”.

Bankman-Fried’s contention was that the US breached this rule in the extradition process from the Bahamas by adding extra charges to those detailed in the original extradition request.

His legal counsel held that the US overstepped the boundaries of the initial agreement by including charges not initially specified in the extradition treaty. However, Judge Kaplan ruled that the charges against Bankman-Fried were within the acceptable range of the extradition treaty.

Consequently, Kaplan denied Bankman-Fried’s bid to dismiss the criminal charges, thereby requiring him to stand trial for the offenses as per the extradition agreement.

The judge stated that the charges are “joined properly with the other pre-extradition charges in this case because a common scheme unifies them.” The court filings further explained this common scheme as one to “accelerate the growth of FTX and Alameda and to enrich the defendant thereby.”

Notably, Bankman-Fried sought to dismiss counts 1 and 2, which included charges of “conspiring to commit and committing wire fraud on FTX customers.” He argued that these charges should be dropped because the indictment does not state any “financial harm” to FTX customers. But Kaplan disagreed, saying, “The defendant is wrong both factually and as a matter of law.”

Bankman-Fried’s arguments were largely centered around jurisdictional uncertainties and the specific wording used in the indictments to advocate for the charges against him to be dropped. The judge repeatedly described these arguments as “unpersuasive” and stated that the charges against Bankman-Fried “are legally sufficient.”

Kaplan concluded that the dismissal arguments are “either moot or without merit” and thus, the motion to dismiss is denied.