According to a report published by WSJ, disgraced crypto exchange FTX co-founder Sam Bankman Fried is likely to enter a plea of not guilty after being charged with orchestrating a years-long scam at FTX, which is now the biggest scam in the history of the US.
The 30-year-old is due to appear in the Feds court in Manhattan on Jan 3 and is expected to enter pleas of not guilty to right offences, including the wire fraud, according to a person familiar with the case.
More on the SBF case
A spokesperson for SBF declined to comment about the plea plans. Bankman Fried was arrested by the Bahamas Police earlier this month after the US filed an indictment accusing him of misappropriating billion of FTX customer funds.
After being extradited to the US, he was released from US custody on a 250 million bail package. He lives at his parent’s home in California and will face trials on Jan 3, 2023. This trial will decide how the SBF case turns out, and every crypto investor will have an eye on it.
It is very common for any defendant not to plead guilty at arraignment, giving them time to explore possible legal and factual defences to save themselves, even if they later decide to change their plea to guilty. Therefore, experts expect it also from the disgraced crypto exchange FTX co-founder SBF in his trials on Jan 3, 2023.
A non-guilty plea opens the door to a discovery process, which would help SBF better understand the evidence the government has collected to prosecute him. Also, at the heart of the government’s case are two of the Bankman’s closest associates, Caroline Ellison, ex-CEO of Alameda Research and Garg Wang, co-founder of FTX. Both have pleaded guilty to fraud over their roles in moving the customer assets between FTX and their sister trading firm, Alameda Research.
SBF can have some advantages
FTX co-founder SBF can eventually decide to change his plea if he reaches a deal with the US government or decides a defence is unlikely to succeed and focuses on getting the most lenient sentence possible. If he maintains his not-guilty plea, the case will end up in trial. A majority of criminal cases don’t make it to trial.
However, SBF has an advantage because of being free on bail. He could meet with his lawyers and focus on defences, which would have been more difficult if he had been jailed before the trial.
What are your thoughts as WSJ reports that Sam Bankman Fried is likely to enter a plea of not guilty? How will the case turn out if SBF does not plead guilty? Let us know in the comments below. And, if you found our content informative, share it with your family and friends.
Also Read: Sam Bankman-Fried is unlikely to get a good plea deal, informs lawyer.
