Sam Bankman-Fried Strikes Back: FTX Mastermind's Bold Move To Crush Accusations

Late Monday, Sam Bankman-Fried, the co-founder of cryptocurrency exchange FTX FTT/USD, filed pretrial motions to dismiss the majority of charges he is facing. 

Set to go on trial this fall, Bankman-Fried faces more than a dozen charges, including wire, securities and commodities fraud allegations, as well as bribery claims.

These charges are linked to his role as the former CEO of Bahamas-based crypto exchange FTX, which collapsed dramatically last November.

In the pretrial motions, Bankman-Fried's attorneys sought to dismiss various charges, citing reasons such as prosecutors failing to "state an offense for failure to allege a valid property right" and dismissal on discovery grounds.

They did not attempt to dismiss charges alleging conspiracy to commit securities fraud, securities fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

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Bankman-Fried's lead attorney Mark Cohen previously hinted at the motions to dismiss, stating his client "is not acknowledging that he can be tried" on charges brought after extradition.

Bankman-Fried pleaded "not guilty" to other charges brought across previous indictments.

In supporting documents, Bankman-Fried's attorneys argued that he had agreed to extradition based on a list of charges that did not include some of the charges later brought against him.

They also claimed FTX did not need to register as a money transmitter and some of the laws Bankman-Fried is being charged don't apply, as FTX is based outside the U.S.

Another filing requests additional discovery documents, asserting that FTX "should be considered part of the prosecution team," due to its cooperation with the Department of Justice.

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Photo: Cointelegraph via Wiki Commons