As lawyers for Sam Bankman-Fried questioned the prosecutors’ witnesses in the ongoing trial of the former CEO of crypto exchange FTX, the defense’s strategy has often appeared muddled.
But in a series of filings from Bankman-Fried’s attorneys, including one on Wednesday evening, the shape of how they will muster a defense to the prosecution’s allegations of fraud has become clearer, especially what the former crypto mogul plans to say when he takes to the witness stand.
In a letter to Judge Lewis Kaplan, who is presiding over the trial, Mark Cohen, one of Bankman-Fried’s lawyers, asked to elicit testimony from the former FTX CEO about the involvement of the crypto exchange’s lawyers in decisions from Bankman-Fried that prosecutors have argued is evidence of wrongdoing.
These include the former crypto mogul’s direction to lieutenants to delete private messages; his decision to open an FTX bank account under the name of sister hedge fund Alameda Research; the issuing of personal loans to FTX insiders; and the wording of the crypto exchange’s terms of service.
“At a minimum, Mr. Bankman-Fried should be permitted [to] testify in his defense regarding the involvement of counsel on these topics to counter any implication from the testimony elicited to date that he failed to act in good faith,” wrote Cohen.
Cohen also petitioned Judge Kaplan to elicit testimony from Bankman-Fried on common crypto industry practices regarding the use of customer funds and why he pushed for FTX’s bankruptcy to be overseen by regulators in the Bahamas as opposed to those in the U.S. In prior rulings in favor of the government, Kaplan had already limited what evidence and testimony the defense could elicit from witnesses.
The letter from Bankman-Fried’s lawyers came less than 24 hours before the government is set to call its last witness to the stand. The trial has already included explosive testimony from some of Bankman-Fried’s closest friends and coworkers, and Caroline Ellison, his on-again, off-again girlfriend and the former CEO of Alameda.
In addition to Bankman-Fried’s proposed testimony, the defense said during a virtual hearing on Wednesday morning that it plans to call Krystal Rolle, an attorney from the Bahamas; Joseph Pimbley, a financial consultant and expert; and a “custodian of records” to illustrate that attorneys and compliance officers were present on the private chats Bankman-Fried used to coordinate FTX activity.
The time spent on all of these proposed witnesses, however, will pale in comparison to the time spent on Bankman-Fried’s testimony, which should take up all of Thursday and go into Friday, Cohen said. If the length of the line of reporters waiting on Thursday morning to snag a seat in the courthouse is any indication, then the anticipation for what the former FTX CEO will say is already at a fever pitch.
