US authorities say SBF will be tried on the initial eight criminal accusations; for the time being

DoJ lawyers claimed the decision was made as a result of a lawsuit the co-founder of FTX filed in the Bahamas to challenge the new charges, which may take some time to resolve.

Sam Bankman-Fried, a co-founder of FTX, will continue to face the eight counts that were initially brought against him by American prosecutors in his criminal case.

Prosecutors with the U.S. The Department of Justice (DoJ) informed district judge Lewis Kaplan in a court file dated June 14 that they would try Bankman-Fried on the eight allegations they brought against him in December 2022.

The DoJ attorneys highlighted a motion submitted by Bankman-Fried in the Bahamas, where he claimed that several of the 13 allegations against him were not included in the original indictment that served as the basis for his extradition from the nation. The prosecutors stated that they are “prepared to proceed to trial as scheduled on the counts contained in the original indictment” because this is expected to be a protracted process.

“It now appears that the litigation surrounding that motion will take some time and may not be concluded until after the trial date.”

The Bahamas Supreme Court ruled on June 14 that Bankman-Fried must be given a chance to formally contest the new allegations before the nation can sanction them.

Following Bankman-Fried’s extradition, the DoJ unveiled four more accusations in February relating to fraud and fraud conspiracy allegations, coupled with a further charge in March involving payments of bribes to Chinese authorities.

The founder and previous CEO of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX is Bankman-Fried. In connection with his handling of the unsuccessful exchange, he was initially charged in December 2022. The exchange experienced a liquidity issue in November 2022, which soon after resulted in its bankruptcy.

Over $3 billion is thought to be FTX’s debt to creditors. Authorities claim that Bankman-Fried mixed up customer funds and gave investors false information about FTX’s risk management procedures, which resulted in losses for both investors and clients.

Gary Wang, a co-founder of FTX, and Caroline Ellison, a former CEO of Alameda Research’s sister firm, have both admitted guilt to counts of fraud related to the collapse of the exchange. Bankman-Fried, however, asserted that management errors rather than fraud were to blame for the collapse.