The crypto space has been waiting for this day for a long time. Today, October 3rd, the time has finally come: the trial against Sam Bankman-Fried opens. The founder and long-time CEO of the insolvent crypto exchange FTX has to answer in court in the USA. The list of allegations is long, and that of the victims is even longer. The burden of proof: overwhelming. The public prosecutor speaks of a “fraud of epic proportions”. If convicted, the 31-year-old could face up to 115 years in prison.
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Old companions testify
“The United States v. Samuel Bankman-Fried,” is the title of the court filing in the case. In the past few months, preparations for the trial have been in full swing. Hundreds of pages of documents were filed, witnesses identified and charges updated. SBF’s old companions, such as Caroline Ellision, Gary Wang and Nishad Singh, have switched sides. They admitted their guilt early on and are now serving as key witnesses for the prosecution. They hope to reduce their own sentence. Because some of them also face decades in prison.
SBF has lawyers from the Eppstein trial
SBF itself is preparing for the upcoming battle with the US government with absolutely top lawyers. “Cohen & Gresser” is the name of the law firm that represents the former crypto mogul in court. Her clients include well-known companies such as Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and L’Oréal.
The lawyers know how to defend publicly unpopular personalities. The Ghislaine Maxwell case shows this. The law firm represented the French-born woman during the Epstein trial. She was sentenced to 20 years in prison for aiding and abetting sex crimes involving minors. 65 were possible.
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Did SBFs help parents cheat?
In addition to SBF, his parents are also upset. FTX’s insolvency administrator recently made serious allegations against Joseph Bankman and Barbara Fried. The two law professors at Stanford University are said not only to have known about the fraud, but also to have been actively involved.
How deeply the elite university is involved in the FTX case remains unclear. The fact is: Stanford received several donations from the crypto exchange. When SBF was released on bail at the end of December, four parties had to sign a bond for him. Two of them are his parents. The other two people are Andreas Paepcke and Larry Kramer. Both have attended the renowned Stanford University and count as close family friends.
Stanford is now planning to return the donations to FTX.
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