SBF Lawyers Float Criminal Trial Delay Citing Time Constraint To Review Evidence, Defense Preparation

The legal team of Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced crypto mogul and founder of the collapsed crypto empire FTX, has floated the idea that it may be necessary to delay the criminal trial of their client scheduled for Oct. 2.

In a letter to U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, lawyers of Bankman-Fried, commonly known as SBF, indicated that their camp would need more time reviewing the evidence and preparing for their client's defense, thus requesting the court a change of the criminal trial date.

Bankman-Fried's lawyers disclosed in the letter that federal prosecutors in Manhattan withheld evidence from devices of Caroline Ellison, the former CEO of Alameda Research, and Gary Wang, the former co-founder of the centralized crypto derivatives exchange FTX, and people who are in SBF's inner circle.

Both Ellison and Wang are working with the Department of Justice and have pleaded guilty to fraud charges.

Apart from that, the lawyers also shared that at present, they are still waiting for the contents from "computers belonging to two other former FTX/Alameda employees" and added that they anticipated that the production of evidence from said devices would be "voluminous and critically important to the defense."

The lawyers also cited the new fraud and conspiracy charges the prosecutors filed against their client in the late part of February, which bumped Bankman-Fried's total number of charges from eight to 12.

"Depending on the volume of the additional discovery and the timing of the productions, it may be necessary to request an adjournment of the trial, currently scheduled to begin on October 2, 2023," wrote Christian Everdell, one of Bankman-Fried's lawyers, in the letter to the court.

"While we are not making such an application at this time, we wanted to note this issue for the Court now," the lawyer added.

In January, Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty to the eight counts prosecutors charged him with for allegedly cheating investors and causing billions of dollars in losses. He is presently out on a $250 million bail bond and has been under house arrest in his parents' home in Palo Alto, California.

Aside from previously set bail conditions, prosecutors asked the court to restrict the crypto mogul's access to devices with internet access, including the use of a Virtual Private Network. He is also prohibited from reaching out or communicating with former FTX and Alameda Research employees.

The collapse of the once most trusted brand in the crypto space has triggered a wave of collapse and bankruptcies among other businesses in the cryptocurrency industry.