DOJ seeks to dismiss star lineup of expert witnesses in Sam Bankman-Fried trial

The U.S. Department of Justice wants the court to disqualify all the expert witnesses of Sam Bankman-Fried, per an Aug. 28 court filing.

According to the DOJ, SBF experts’ disclosure filings are insufficient, and their experience is misleading. The prosecutors further argued that these witnesses’ testimony may be irrelevant to the case.

The DOJ discredited the essence of calling the witnesses because there are already people with enough expert knowledge on issues such as the FTX code, or the issues on trial do not relate to what the experts will give evidence on.

“There is no need for a separate ‘expert’ witness to testify on such matters, especially in light of the fact that such testimony would duplicate the testimony of fact witnesses,” it said.

If granted, the motion will affect all seven expert witnesses introduced by SBF, including a lawyer, a law professor, a data analytics expert, a financial expert, and consultants.

The filing also noted that a proposed witness, Peter Vineland, is listed as a financial services industry expert. But there is nothing to show he has enough knowledge about the crypto industry.

Meanwhile, the SBF team is also pushing that a financial analysis expert that the prosecutor wants to call should not be allowed because of the nature of his testimony.

Meet SBF Witnesses

• Lawrence Akka KC

Akka is an English barrister specializing in commercial law and commercial disputes, particularly those involving technology and civil fraud. The lawyer is tasked with reviewing FTX’s terms of service and is charging £800 per hour for his services.

Per the filing, he would talk about FTX’s terms of service lacking a formal declaration of trust about fiat currency. Instead, they established a contractual creditor-debtor relationship. Consequently, the bankrupt exchange was not obligated to allocate fiat currency for specific purposes.

• Thomas E. Bishop

Bishop has over 30 years of tax, financial investigative, law enforcement, and private sector consulting experience. He is charging $400 per hour for his services.

The court filing shows that he would be testifying on the “calculations of financial figures and metrics (e.g., net asset value) for FTX Trading Ltd, Alameda Research LLC, and other entities based on publicly available information.”

• Brian Kim

Kim has over 15 years of experience in electronic discovery and digital forensic investigations. He is a director at Guidepost Solutions, a firm specializing in managing, directing, and supervising electronic discovery, structured data analytics, and digital forensics.

According to the filing, Kim would provide “testimony concerning document metadata and potential or permissible inferences drawn therefrom.” He is charging $650 per hour.

• Joseph M. Pimbley

Pimbley has over 30 years of experience in derivatives and securities trading, portfolio and risk management, trading systems, credit ratings, structured finance, banking, and investment advisory.

The filing shows that he would testify how FTX’s software infrastructure had insufficiently robust reporting and insufficient testing and quality assurance of data integrity and code. He also opines how these deficiencies were “not visible to external users or recipients of infrastructure generated risk and financial reports.”

He is charging $720 per hour.

• Professor Bradley Smith

Smith is the Josiah H. Blackmore II/Shirley M. Nault Professor of Law at Capital University Law School.

The law professor will offer insights into United States campaign finance laws, detailing contribution restrictions and corporate fund usage regulations.

He is charging $1,200 per hour.

• DR. Peter U. Vinella

Vinella is the Managing Director at PVA Toucan International, an expert services and consulting firm.

He has a doctorate in mathematics and would be testifying on various topics, including how the crypto industry operated before FTX’s launch, the regulatory environment for crypto firms, and how the failed exchange operated through this situation.

The filing did not provide information on the amount he is charging for his services,

• Professor Andrew Di Wu

Wu is the NBD Bancorp Assistant Professor of Business Administration and Assistant Professor of Technology and Operations at the Stephen M. Ross School of Business, University of Michigan.

The professor would provide testimony about “blockchain technology and its key components,” “the technology behind and the creation, use, and functions of cryptocurrency coins and tokens.” He would also offer insights on “business practices related to exchange-issued tokens” and “common practices in the cryptocurrency industry around the making and taking of loans.”

He is charging $650 per hour.

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