A federal judge ruled on Thursday to split the counts of Sam Bankman-Fried’s first indictment from later-filed supplementary charges, meaning the former CEO of the defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX would face two separate trials in New York.
While Bankman-Fried was residing in the Bahamas, where his company’s headquarters were located, the U.S. Justice Department brought its initial indictment back in December. According to U.S. Attorney Damian Williams, the former billionaire defrauded investors and committed one of the worst frauds in American history.
The one-page ruling was handed down by U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan on Thursday afternoon, following a hearing in Manhattan that saw Bankman-Fried make a rare public appearance. According to the order, he will be tried on the eight charges of his initial indictment in October and will stand trial again on the remaining five counts in March 2024.
The charge division occurs as DOJ prosecutors ask the Bahamian government for permission to try Bankman-Fried on the five extra charges they brought against him following his extradition from the island.
Sam Bankman Fried’s attorneys made an effort to get those accusations dropped by arguing that he could not be punished for crimes committed after his extradition.
On June 14, attorneys for the DOJ said that they will move on with the trial of Bankman-Fried on the initial eight charges they brought against him. They cited the potential length of the procedure if the court had to wait for the acceptance of a request made by Bankman-Fried in The Bahamas.
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The charges of conspiring to commit bribery, conspiring to run an unauthorized money-transfer business, conspiring to commit bank fraud, and conspiring to commit derivatives and securities fraud will be the main topics of the upcoming trial in March.
The additional charges include allegations of money laundering as well as numerous wire, derivatives, and securities fraud and conspiracies allegedly committed at FTX and Alameda Research.
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