FTX Founder SBF Requests Permission from the Court for Defense Preparation

Days after a federal judge revoked the bail of FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried, he is now seeking permission to spend five days a week outside of prison to collaborate with his legal team in the defense case. Sam Bankman-Fried, who is facing fraud charges for allegedly unauthorized access to billions of dollars for personal use from customer funds, requested permission to review the case file with his team.

Accelerating the Trial if Permission is Granted

According to Bloomberg, a letter sent to Judge Lewis Kaplan on Friday stated that Sam Bankman-Fried’s legal representatives indicated difficulties in fully reviewing the extensive document accumulation related to the case while their clients are held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York.

Sam Bankman-Fried’s lawyer, Christian Everdell, said:

“Just last week, government officials prepared a 750,000-page Slack communication defense that was supposed to be written months ago and has no hope of being reviewed within this program.”

According to Everdell, facilitating access for SBF’s legal team and allowing the use of an internet-enabled laptop in the courthouse would expedite the trial. The lawyer emphasized the importance of this arrangement considering that the fraud case is set to begin in October.

Request Denied Due to Restrictions

Sam Bankman-Fried, who claims innocence, is accused of managing an elaborate fraud scheme involving unauthorized access to billions of dollars from FTX customer funds. Prosecutors reportedly argued that if Bankman-Fried fails to immediately disclose the advice he received and its source, he should be prevented from presenting this defense during the trial.

Prosecutors stated that they could provide Bankman-Fried with the information on the hard drives. However, due to restrictions, all information cannot be stored on a laptop or drive. Prison officials rejected the plan to allow Sam Bankman-Fried access to a laptop and are still awaiting the decision of the judge responsible for the case regarding their latest requests.