What’s at stake for Sam Bankman-Fried’s long-awaited appeal?
The former FTX CEO is currently serving a 25-year sentence in federal prison, but has the opportunity to get a new trial.
With 19 years remaining for Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried in prison, the former FTX CEO’s legal team will present arguments in the appellate court as to why a panel of judges should consider overturning his conviction or sentence.
On Tuesday, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit will hear oral arguments from SBF’s lawyers. Though the details of the appeal were unclear at the time of publication, the former FTX CEO’s legal team said in its initial appeals filing from September 2024 that it intended to argue SBF was “never presumed innocent,” claiming that it was not allowed to present information to the court regarding the crypto exchange’s solvency.
“From day one, the prevailing narrative—initially spun by the lawyers who took over FTX, quickly adopted by their contacts at the US Attorney’s Office— was that Bankman-Fried had stolen billions of dollars of customer funds, driven FTX to insolvency, and caused billions in losses,” said the September 2024 appeal. “Now, nearly two years later, a very different picture is emerging—one confirming FTX was never insolvent, and in fact had assets worth billions to repay its customers. But the jury at Bankman-Fried’s trial never got to see that picture.”
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