- The US government is most likely wrapping up the case against SBF today
- The defense will take a maximum of three days to question the potential witnesses
- It’s not clear what details SBF can provide to counter damaging testimony
Sam Bankman-Fried, former CEO of bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, will be questioned as part of his defense case. The US government is most likely wrapping up the case today, his attorney Mark Cohen stated, cited by Cointelegraph.
Case goes straight through today
After the prosecution completes the presentation of its case today, SBF’s defense team will call three witnesses and the defendant himself to the stand. This emerged from a video conference with Judge Lewis Kaplan, who is presiding over the case. The judge confirmed he would allow the case to go “straight through” on Oct. 26, moving from the prosecutors’ last witness right to the defense’s first one.
According to Cohen, the defense will take a maximum of three days to question the potential witnesses. Defense attorneys are most likely to conclude the case tomorrow, on Oct. 27. According to prosecutors, rebuttal witnesses might not be necessary. It all depends on Bankman-Fried’s testimony. Closing arguments can be expected before the end of the month.
Assistant US Attorney Nicolas Roos said:
The government has a single substantive wire fraud count related to customers, and the theory is that the defendant made false representations and was in a trust relationship with depositors and took money. I think there is certainly an element to which these are very intertwined to the extent that the false representations created an impression of trust and confidence amongst the victims of the crime.
Witnesses committed crimes at SBF’s direction
SBF’s possible testimony would follow that of former Alameda and FTX executives, including Gary Wang, Caroline Ellison, and Nishad Singh. They all confessed that they had committed crimes, often at the defendant’s direction.
The defense faces challenges because it’s not clear what details Bankman-Fried can provide to the jury that could counter the other witnesses’ narrative. If he is convicted of fraud, he faces more than a century in prison.
