Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of failed cryptocurrency exchange FTX, is seeking a new trial, according to a request filed by his mother in New York federal court.
Since being convicted and jailed for 25 years, SBF has continued to challenge his situation in court. The Inner City Press first reported on Tuesday the latest motion for a new trial, filed by his mother, Barbara Fried, claiming new evidence in the case would justify a new trial. The filing notes that there was an initial lack of testimony from several figures, including FTX’s Ryan Salame, who is pursuing separate legal proceedings of his own.
Former FTX executive Salame was also convicted on federal charges, but claimed he made arrangements to cooperate with prosecutors that should have protected his wife, Michelle Bond, from legal pursuit. She was later indicted for allegedly accepting illegal campaign contributions in her congressional campaign.
SBF’s 35-page document was sent to court as a pro se motion, meaning the defendant represented himself.
The SBF’s earlier attempts to argue that he had not received a fair first hearing, which came to a head in November, were met with some skepticism from appeal judges. SBF’s defense in seeking a retrial on appeal has focused attention on FTX’s subsequent solvency, and his account on social media site X continues to argue that the company was not insolvent when it collapsed. However, the judge said in November that solvency did not appear to be a major issue.
“Part of the government’s theory in this case is that the defendants misrepresented facts to investors, saying their funds were safe and not being used in the way the government claimed, and the jury determined that the funds were actually used,” said Circuit Judge Maria Araújo Kahn, referring to the misappropriation of client funds that was at the heart of his conviction.
President Donald Trump recently said he would not consider clemency for SBF, closing another potential path to freedom. However, the former FTX CEO is still campaigning for himself through the X account, saying he is a victim of former President Joe Biden’s “legal machine.”
