The world’s most notorious cryptocurrency criminal files an appeal in a fraud case

The lawyers of the founder of FTX Group, accused of fraud, filed an appeal against the verdict. According to the statement, the trial was biased and unfair.

The authors of the appeal claim that during the hearing of Сем Бенкман-Фрід" href="https://noworries.news/biography/sem-benkman-frid/" data-bio-id="3697">Sam Bankman-Fried 's case, District Judge Lewis Kaplan openly ridiculed the defendant’s testimony and demonstrated biased behavior towards the defense lawyers.

«Benkman-Fried was considered guilty by the media and the FTX liquidation committee. He was deemed guilty by federal prosecutors seeking quick and high-profile revelations, and he was deemed guilty by the judge presiding over the trial,» the authors of the appeal listed.

According to the lawyers, Judge Kaplan’s manner and style negatively influenced the jury, which deprived the defendant of a fair trial and led to an excessively harsh sentence. «Judge Kaplan made hasty judgments and thereby disregarded all the principles of a fair and impartial trial. He pre-judged Benkman-Fried before the court and jury were even charged,» the lawyers explained their position.

Benkman-Fried's lawyers said that the prosecution had distorted information about the amount of financial losses suffered by FTX’s creditors, and Judge Kaplan did not allow their client to promise a full refund to users through bankruptcy proceedings.

Bankman-Fried was sentenced to a 25-year prison term. At the same time, the lawyers offered a milder sentence of 6.5 years at the trial. In the appeal, the defense demanded that the conviction of the former FTX CEO be overturned and that a new trial be held under the chairmanship of another judge.