{"id":9328,"date":"2023-11-03T22:09:19","date_gmt":"2023-11-03T22:09:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/markets\/crypto\/recap-legal-analysis-and-whats-to-come\/"},"modified":"2023-11-03T22:09:22","modified_gmt":"2023-11-03T22:09:22","slug":"recap-legal-analysis-and-whats-to-come","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=9328","title":{"rendered":"Recap, Legal Analysis, and What’s to Come"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The landmark fraud trial against Sam Bankman-Fried came to a swift end Thursday night as the jury found him guilty on all counts after mere hours of deliberation.<\/p>\n

Bankman-Fried\u2019s parents broke down as the jury revealed their decision, while the defendant stood motionless facing the jury.<\/p>\n

The disgraced FTX founder\u2019s guilty verdict follows an intensive month-long trial which saw his former girlfriend, friends and roommates take the stand against him.\n<\/p>\n

The Jury\u2019s Perspective<\/h2>\n

\n\u201cIt was a very well-tried case by the government,\u201d says former U.S. Assistant Attorney Kevin J. O\u2019Brien. \u201cThe evidence was substantial\u2026 They had four cooperators from inside the company testifying that he was in charge and made all the key decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Originally slated to last for six weeks, the trial lasted around a month thanks to the prosecution reducing their arguments, which O\u2019Brien calls \u201csmart.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cMore importantly, from a juror\u2019s point of view, you\u2019ve got to understand what it\u2019s like being a juror,\u201d said O\u2019 Brien. \u201cThey want to be home and enjoy their family again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey kept it moving with a kind of rhythm,\u201d O\u2019Brien said of the prosecution. \u201cThey projected this air of confidence from the very beginning, and that is very appealing to the jury.\u201d<\/p>\n

Judge Kaplan, who had to encourage Bankman-Fried to answer questions directly numerous times throughout his testimony, \u201cabetted\u201d the government\u2019s swiftness.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe wouldn\u2019t let the defense ask a lot of repetitive questions,\u201d said O\u2019Brien.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Brien notes that while the defense attempted to present seven witnesses originally, Judge Kaplan approved a request from the prosecution to block them all.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe job of the defense lawyer is not to present a case. His job is to whittle away at the government\u2019s case to create reasonable doubt,\u201d said O\u2019Brien. \u201cAnd there was just no toehold to do that \u2013 there was just too much government evidence coming at them.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Crucial testimony from former executives<\/h2>\n

\nO\u2019Brien described Bankman-Fried\u2019s testimony as \u201ca last resort\u201d following the government\u2019s strong case against him.<\/p>\n

Bankman-Fried faced an uphill battle from the beginning, with less than 1% of federal criminal defendants being acquitted in 2022.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe last-minute decision to put Sam Bankman-Fried on the stand was probably the hardest that they had, but was probably the last resort to at least try and present a different narrative than what was already presented,\u201d says Andrew Rossow, attorney and CEO of AR Media Consulting.<\/p>\n

Throughout his testimony, the former \u201dking of crypto\u201d often hesitated when fielding questions from the prosecution, saying he \u201cdidn\u2019t recall\u201d details pertinent to the case over 140 times.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe didn\u2019t come across that well based on reports,\u201d O\u2019Brien said. \u201cHe had problems answering questions directly and told a few lies and the jury picked up on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Bankman-Fried deferred responsibility for FTX and Alameda Research\u2019s collapse to former Alameda Research CEO, Caroline Ellison, arguing that Ellison\u2019s failure to hedge the company negatively impacted it long term.<\/p>\n

However, in her testimony, Ellison claimed Bankman-Fried was directly, saying he was the one \u201cwho set up systems to take customer money.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moreover, Ellison claimed she felt like an \u201cunequal partner\u201d in her romantic relationship with Bankman-Fried due to him being in a position of power over her at work.<\/p>\n

\u201cI would always ultimately defer to Sam,\u201d Ellison said, elaborating that she had \u201cconcerns about the intersection of our personal and professional relationship.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite Bankman-Fried\u2019s deflection on the witness stand, O\u2019Brien said \u201che was clearly the dominant partner.\u201d<\/p>\n

Similarly, FTX co-founder and chief technical officer, Gary Wang, and former head of engineering for FTX, testified that Bankman-Fried was the one who instructed them to add an \u201callow negative\u201d feature on Alameda Research\u2019s account on FTX\u2019s database. Prosecutors alleged that Bankman-Fried used it to fund political contributions, venture investments and real estate purchases, including a $35 million penthouse for the FTX founder and a select number of his employees.<\/p>\n

Overall, Rossow stated that the defense did the best that they could in \u201ctrying to present some sort of second view based on the very, very damaging testimony that was almost impossible to refute.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moreover, Rossow believes that the \u201cprofound impact\u201d of the co-conspirators\u2019 testimonies \u201cwill play a very, very large role in whether or not they are getting the maximum punishment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think there\u2019s a good chance they won\u2019t be sentenced to prison in at least a couple of cases,\u201d O\u2019Brien said.\n<\/p>\n

What happens to SBF now<\/h2>\n

\nMark Cohen, the defense attorney for Bankman-Fried, stated shortly after the jury returned that they planned to \u201cvigorously fight the charges.\u201d<\/p>\n

The defense previously tried to argue that FTX\u2019s now contested terms of service should be governed by English law given that FTX was headquartered in the Bahamas, however, Judge Kaplan ultimately ruled against it. It may be used as grounds for an appeal later on.<\/p>\n

Additionally, the defense could potentially try to appeal based on Bankman-Fried not having access to his proper dosage of adderall during a portion of the trial. Previously, they alleged it prevented the defendant from \u201cmeaningly participating\u201d in the presentation of his case.<\/p>\n

The FTX founder is currently being held at Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn where he is facing a maximum prison sentence of 110 years in jail for seven fraud charges including wire fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy. With Bankman-Fried\u2019s sentencing for March 24th, 2024, it\u2019s unclear just how long of prison term he will receive.<\/p>\n

Referencing Bankman-Fried\u2019s seven different fraud counts, Rossow noted that \u201cthey each have their own extreme punishments and prison time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rossow believes \u201cit would be hard for the court to be generous\u201d considering the magnitude of the crimes committed.<\/p>\n

However, O\u2019Brien claimed that a hefty prison sentence would \u201cessentially ruin\u201d Bankman-Fried\u2019s life.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the argument\u2019s going to be made that given everything he has to offer society, he should be given the opportunity to create a life for himself at some point,\u201d said O\u2019Brien.<\/p>\n

\u201cSam Bankman-Fried perpetrated one of the biggest frauds in American history,\u201d said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams during a press conference outside of Manhattan federal court Thursday night shortly after the verdict was announced. Williams stated that while crypto is a new industry, \u201cthis kind of fraud, this kind of corruption, is as old as time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is no different than anything that they had seen,\u201d Rossow said. \u201cIt just took another form with a young adult that was leveraging new, emerging technology at the expense of others.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n
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The landmark fraud trial against Sam Bankman-Fried came to a swift end Thursday night as the jury found him guilty on all…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9329,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-9328","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-crypto"},"yoast_head":"\nRecap, Legal Analysis, and What's to Come | inFundPros<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The landmark fraud trial against Sam Bankman-Fried came to a swift end Thursday night as the jury found him guilty on all counts after mere hours of\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/infundpros.com\/?p=9328\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta 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