Sam Bankman-Fried will not face a second trial, US prosecutors decide
channelnewsasia.comNEW YORK: US prosecutors said on Friday (Dec 29) they do not plan to proceed with a second trial against Sam Bankman-Fried, who was convicted last month of stealing from customers of his now-bankrupt FTX cryptocurrency exchange.In a letter filed in federal court in Manhattan, prosecutors said the strong public interest in a prompt resolution of the case outweighed the benefits of a second trial.They said that interest "weighs particularly heavily here," given that Bankman-Fried's scheduled March 2024 sentencing will likely include orders of forfeiture and restitution for victims of his crimes.It also said much of the evidence that would be offered at a second trial was already presented at the first trial.Lawyers for Bankman-Fried did not immediately respond to requests for comment.Jurors on Nov 2 convicted Bankman-Fried on all seven counts he faced, after prosecutors accused him of looting US$8 billion from FTX customers out of sheer greed.The verdict came nearly one year after FTX filed for bankruptcy, in a meltdown that shook markets and erased Bankman-Fried's once-US$26 billion personal fortune.Following the fall of FTX, Singapore's investment company Temasek Holdings said in November last year that it would write down its US$275 million (S$376.8 million) investment in FTX, irrespective of the outcome of the cryptocurrency exchange's bankruptcy protection filing.
Chairman Lim Boon Heng said in May that Temasek's investment team and senior management also "took collective accountability and had their compensation reduced", after an internal review into the write-down of its FTX investment.
Temasek, along with 17 other banks, venture capitalists and accounting firms, were also sued for allegedly conspiring with FTX to defraud investors.
The class action lawsuit was filed in Miami, Florida in February by an FTX customer whose funds have been frozen in his FTX account since the cryptocurrency exchange's collapse.
