Sam Bankman-Fried to take witness stand in his own defence

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Sam Bankman-Fried intends to take the witness stand in his legal case over the multibillion-dollar collapse of crypto trade FTX, a high-stakes bid by the previous tycoon to enchantment to the New York jury that would quickly condemn him to life in jail.

A lawyer for the 31-year-old, who has sat silently for 3 weeks as a number of of his former colleagues testified in opposition to him, confirmed in a courtroom convention on Wednesday that his shopper would reply questions below oath, doubtlessly as early as Thursday.

“Our shopper can also be going to be testifying,” Mark Cohen stated, including that the defence may relaxation as quickly as the top of this week.

Bankman-Fried’s FTX trade collapsed final November, leaving an $8bn gap in buyer funds. The founder and former chief govt is contesting fees together with wire fraud and cash laundering.

The choice by Bankman-Fried to testify in his personal defence goes in opposition to the recommendation routinely given to white-collar defendants, who’re informed such a transfer is more likely to backfire. Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes took the stand in her legal trial in 2021, solely to be discovered responsible by a Californian jury and sentenced to greater than a decade behind bars.

However Bankman-Fried has adhered to his personal authorized playbook ever for the reason that implosion of his crypto empire. Within the months main as much as the trial, he granted interviews to journalists and the creator Michael Lewis, contacted a possible witness and leaked personal paperwork to the New York Occasions in an alleged try and intimidate Caroline Ellison, his former colleague and girlfriend, who’s co-operating with the federal government.

Whereas prosecutors have sought to color Bankman-Fried as a serial liar who stole billions of {dollars} from FTX prospects to make dangerous bets whereas concealing his actions from traders, his legal professionals have argued that their shopper was performing in “good religion” and was blindsided by a downturn within the crypto market and a mendacious competitor.

Over the course of the trial, jurors have been offered with proof that Bankman-Fried ordered colleagues to write down code that allowed his crypto buying and selling agency Alameda Analysis to dip into $10bn price of FTX buyer funds, even instructing Ellison to create seven “different” steadiness sheets that disguised this association from lenders.

Legal professionals for Bankman-Fried indicated they might name three additional witnesses together with a lawyer from the Bahamas, a database skilled, and somebody who may stroll the jury by FTX’s organisational chart.