Not Guilty Plea From Sam Bankman-Fried

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am Bankman-Fried entered a plea of 'not guilty' to fraud and conspiracy charges, as the presiding judge set an October trial date for this case. 

On Tuesday afternoon, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan of the Southern District of New York provided a projected date for the impending weeks-long trial at an arraignment in Manhattan's courthouse, concerning an ex FTX executive. At the onset of the hearing, Bankman-Fried's lawyer entered a plea of not guilty over eight distinct charges including wire fraud and campaign finance violations.

On Tuesday, the former CEO of the now-defunct crypto exchange appeared in a New York courtroom for a second time. Last week's hearing resulted in Bankman-Fried being released on personal recognizance bond and flying back to his family home in California. As predicted by an earlier Wall Street Journal report, he pled not guilty today.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Danielle Sassoon revealed to the court that most of their collected evidence is expected to be ready within the approaching weeks, with documents already in possession by FTX's bankruptcy lawyers included among them. She declared they would present these materials soon.

Judge Kaplan granted Bankman-Fried's plea to conceal the identities of two individuals who co-signed his $250 million bail bond, in addition to his parents. Media outlets can oppose the censorship until January 12th; yet Bankman-Fried's attorneys defended their application on grounds for protecting safety and privacy.

On behalf of the government, Sassoon approached the court to change Bankman-Fried's bail conditions, proposing they forbid him from entering or transferring any funds associated with FTX and its related entities. She pointed out last week's revelation that a few Alameda wallets had started moving thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency into other accounts.

Although Bankman-Fried's defense stated that he had been collaborating with the prosecution and was not involved in any of the transactions, Judge Sassoon disagreed. He decided to prohibit Bankman-Fried from accessing or transferring funds related to FTX or Alameda due to his past record of tweeting false information.

Prosecutors maintained that Bankman-Fried deceived customers by misusing their deposits to cover Alameda Research's expenses and debts, owned by the same parent company as FTX. Additionally, they proclaimed he falsified information regarding FTX’s financial health.

The plea, which Bankman-Fried is allowed to alter until the trial in October transpires, will uncover how prosecutors believe he has broken federal laws by duping his customers and financiers. Furthermore, they plan on pressing charges pertaining to campaign finance regulations.

Prior to the trial, attorneys will have time to review all evidence in the case. Bankman-Fried's legal team must submit a motion for dismissal by April 3rd, while federal prosecutors have until April 24th to respond. Thereafter, Bankman-Fried may offer their reply on May 8th and both parties can present their cases during a hearing at 10:00 am EST on May 18th.

Jonathan

An editor at Coincrop

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Jonathan is a Coincrop staff writer based in the UK, covering the best rates for cryptocurrency earning and borrowing products. When not at work, he's likely sailing.