🚨 Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried appeals and seeks a retrial!
Last year, Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, was sentenced to 25 years for fraud and conspiracy. Now, he and his legal team are dissatisfied and want to appeal, hoping to have the case retried.
They feel that the presiding judge at the time, Lewis Kaplan, was biased and unfavorable to Sam. The lawyers said that the judge favored the prosecution during the trial and even rushed the jury to make a decision before the jury had time to consider the case. They also mentioned that the judge was skeptical of Sam's testimony during the trial and sometimes reprimanded the defense lawyers.
Sam's legal team also mentioned that since the trial, there have been new claims about the situation of FTX. They claim that FTX was not bankrupt when it collapsed and actually had a lot of assets to return to customers. They believe that this new evidence was not fully considered at the trial, causing the jury to make a verdict without knowing all the facts.
Let's review the collapse of FTX. At the end of 2022, the collapse of FTX shocked the entire cryptocurrency market, causing a large number of consumers to withdraw funds and eventually the company went bankrupt. Prosecutors said Sam masterminded a scheme to steal billions of dollars from customers' accounts and then used the money to make political donations and personal consumption.
During the trial, some of Sam's former colleagues, including Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research, stood up against him. The trial attracted widespread public attention and ultimately a jury found him guilty.
Now, as the court battle continues, the impact of FTX's bankruptcy continues. The entire Bitcoin market has been affected, and litigation and regulatory review are still ongoing.
Sam's road to appeal may be difficult. His legal team believes that there are many problems with the initial trial and hopes to have a retrial by another judge. However, it is very difficult to overturn a federal verdict, and historically less than 10% of appeals have been successful.
Finally, do you think Sam Bankman-Fried should be given a chance for a retrial? Do you think the judge was really biased during the trial?
