FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried has asked a New York judge to dismiss criminal charges brought against him following the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange last year.
In a flurry of filings on Monday night, Bankman-Fried’s lawyers put forward a number of defences, arguing that the 31-year-old was impermissibly charged with further crimes following his extradition from the Bahamas in December, that some of the allegedly illegal transactions took place outside of the US and that campaign contributions he made to political parties were legal.
Last year, US prosecutors accused Bankman-Fried of running a “global scheme” to defraud customers and lenders of FTX and affiliated hedge fund Alameda before their collapse in November, when a multibillion-dollar hole was uncovered in the company’s balance sheet.