A judge dismissed on Tuesday rejected jailed cryptocurrency mogul Sam Bankman-Fried’s request for a new trial, labelling the new evidence brought by him as “wildly conspiratorial.”
Judge Questions SBF’s Key Arguments
Bankman-Fried, popularly known as SBF, filed a request for a new trial earlier in February, stating that Daniel Chapsky, former FTX head of partnerships, Ryan Salame, former FTX Digital Markets co-CEO, and Nishad Singh, former FTX engineering director, were “threatened” by the DOJ into silence or changing their statements.
Judge Lewis Kaplan, who sentenced Bankman-Fried to 25 years in prison for the FTX scam, said that none of the witnesses were “newly discovered” and that SBF was aware of them before the trial.
“He could have obtained or at least sought to compel their testimony. But he did neither. His assertion that their absence [or, in one case, the decision of the witness to testify against him] …