“Presumed Guilty by the Judge”: FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried Appeals $8B Fraud Conviction

Sam Bankman-Fried, the former crypto billionaire who was convicted of fraud and sentenced to 25 years in prison, has formally appealed his conviction and requested a new trial. In the 102-page appeal, the legal representatives of the FTX founder accused Judge Lewis Kaplan of being unfairly biased in the previous trial.

A Biased Judge?

Bankman-Fried, the former crypto billionaire who once made significant political donations, was convicted on seven counts of fraud and conspiracy to commit fraud by a New York jury last November for his fraudulent business practices with the now-collapsed FTX and its affiliates. The conviction was followed by a 25-year prison sentence in March by US District Judge Lewis Kaplan of the Southern District of New York (SDNY).

At that time, the prosecutors sought a much heftier prison sentence, between 40 and 50 years, while the defence lawyers asked for a lighter sentence of 6.5 years. Notably, the 32-year-old crypto exchange founder maintained his innocence throughout.

“Sam Bankman-Fried was never presumed innocent,” the filing yesterday (Friday), submitted by his lawyer Alexandra Shapiro in the Second Circuit Court of Appeals, noted. “He was presumed guilty by the judge who presided over his trial.”

Sam Bankman-Fried just filed his appeal brief for his criminal conviction.

It's 100 pages long. Let's take a look. pic.twitter.com/dlACBjft50

— Jacob Shamsian ⚖️ (@JayShams) September 13, 2024

Shapiro is the new legal representative of Bankman-Fried, taking over the case from trial lawyers Mark Cohen and Christian Everdell after the conviction.

FTX Customers Didn’t Lose Money

Bankman-Fried was convicted for shady business practices primarily involving FTX and its sister entity, Alameda Research. He was also convicted for misappropriating $8 billion in customer funds.

FTX and its affiliates are currently controlled by bankruptcy administrators, who recently put forth a plan to refund the creditors in excess of their original claims.

In the latest filing, the defence lawyers argued that in the previous trial, Judge Kaplan blocked Bankman-Fried from claiming to the jury that FTX customers did not actually lose money, as they would get it back through the bankruptcy proceedings.

“The government thus presented a false narrative that FTX’s customers, lenders, and investors had permanently lost their money,” the filing stated. “The jury was only allowed to see half the picture.”

The defence lawyers also accused the prosecutors of working more closely with the bankruptcy estate than allowed, and blocking the defence in the previous trial from accessing evidence.

“The district court summarily refused to order discovery, or even a hearing, to determine whether the Debtors and their counsel were an ‘arm of the prosecution’,” the filing added.

Interestingly, other top associates of Bankman-Fried, including Caroline Ellison, Nishad Singh, Gary Wang, and Ryan Salame, pled guilty to civil and criminal charges, and worked with the prosecutors in building the case against the FTX founder, even testifying against him in court. In May, Salame was sentenced to 75 years in prison, while the sentencing for Ellison has been set for later this month. The sentencing of Singh and Wang has also been scheduled for October 30 and November 20, respectively.