SBF says most charges against him ‘suffer from multiple legal flaws’

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried filed pretrial motions to dismiss 10 of the 13 charges against him, according to a May 8 court filing.

According to a memorandum of law filed by the SBF lawyers, the prosecutors hastily charged their client in a rush to judgment. They added that the government did not review the case’s documents or other relevant evidence.

 “Each of the charges contained boilerplate recitals of statutory language, followed by literally one sentence purportedly describing the basis for the charge — nothing further.”

Due to this, SBF wants the court to drop all charges except those alleging conspiracy to commit securities fraud, securities fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

SBF says charges against him are flawed

The lawyers highlighted how the other charges “suffer from multiple legal flaws” or were  “improperly premised on a ‘right to control’ theory” recently considered invalid by the Solicitor General.

For context, the lawyers said the commodities fraud charges fail to satisfy the statutory requirement. FinCEN’s rules undercut other charges like the unlicensed money transmitter charge, the campaign finance charge is self-contradictory, and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act is vague and improperly pleaded.

The lawyers concluded that:

“The Government’s haste and apparent willingness to proceed without having all the relevant facts and information has produced an indictment that is not only improperly brought but legally flawed and should be dismissed.”

Bankman-Fried was arrested in the Bahamas in December 2022 following FTX’s bankruptcy in November of the same year. Since then, he has been extradited to the U.S., where he faces multiple charges bordering on his role in the eventual collapse of the exchange.

Meanwhile, unlike other FTX’s top executives, SBF has pleaded not guilty to all charges and is currently on bail.

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