Coinbase‘s top lawyer RFK Jr. and more slammed decision to drop second SBF case
United States prosecutors have decided not to prosecute Sam Bankman-Fried over other charges he faces, including foreign bribery, bank fraud and more. Prosecutors, led by U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams, also decided not to pursue the illegal political donations charge, which was removed from the original indictment due to a dispute with the Bahamas over Bankman-Fried’s extradition.
In a letter announcing the verdict, prosecutors noted that evidence on many of the charges had already been presented during the initial trial, in which Bankman-Fried was found guilty of all seven fraud and conspiracy charges related to FTX leadership and sister trading. firm Alameda Research. Prosecutors explained that this evidence could be taken into account at sentencing, although the jury was not given a chance to decide.
“Continuing sentencing in March 2024, without the delay caused by a second trial, will increase the public’s interest in a timely and fair resolution of the case,” prosecutors said. he wrote.
Therefore, some information may never come to light, such as how exactly Thai sex workers were involved in the plan to freeze Alameda’s Chinese accounts, according to the star witness’ testimony; This ultimately resulted in Alameda bribing Chinese government officials. and former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison.
However, the crypto community seems largely interested in getting one charge in particular dropped: the charge of illegal political donations, given Bankman-Fried’s numerous well-publicized donations to both Democratic and Republican politicians. Prosecutors alleged that Bankman-Fried used client funds for $100 million in political donations.
“No one is surprised. This is a bigger problem than fraud itself. It shows how normalized corruption has become,” said Presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who is running as an Independent in the 2024 race. Quote post in X referencing the decision.
In response to the same quoted post, Elon Musk simply said “!!” said.
Paul Grewal, Coinbase’s Chief Legal Officer, called the decision to drop the charge a “miscarriage of justice” in a thread on X. “The public interest in making accusations public is almost always paramount. Campaign finance charges are at the top of this list,” Grewal wrote. “What politicians and others knew and when are critical questions that deserve answers.”
Bankman-Fried’s sentencing is currently scheduled for March 28, 2024.
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