Sam Bankman-Fried will not face a second fraud trial, DoJ announces

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Sam Bankman-Fried won’t face another fraud trial, the Department of Justice has announced.

The former leader of crypto trading firm FTX, who was facing additional fraud charges in connection to illicit campaign donations, was found guilty on seven counts in November. On Friday, US Attorney Damian Williams said in a legal filing that DoJ wouldn’t be seeking a second trial.

“The Government has concluded that the public interest in a prompt resolution of this matter outweighs the interest in holding a separate trial,” Mr Williams wrote.

The 31-year-old is set to be sentenced on 28 March on several counts of wire fraud, conspiracy to commit commodities fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. He may be sentenced to more than 100 years in prison, The Daily Beast noted.

Bankman-Fried was also accused of “conspiracy to make unlawful campaign contributions” but those allegations were not included in the trial earlier this year.

Prosecutors said that they chose not to pursue a second trial as large parts of the evidence had already been presented.

The government also argue that it has already proven that Bankman-Fried made unlawful political contributions and that the judge can take that into account during the sentencing.

“At trial, however, the Government offered evidence of the defendant’s scheme to make unlawful campaign contributions, both as direct evidence of the other seven counts and pursuant to Federal Rule of Evidence 404(b). The defendant was convicted on all counts,” Mr Williams writes in the Friday filing. “And because the Government also proved that the defendant engaged in a scheme to make unlawful campaign contributions, the Court may consider this scheme as relevant conduct at the defendant’s sentencing.”

“Given that practical reality, and the strong public interest in a prompt resolution of this matter, the Government intends to proceed to sentencing on the counts for which the defendant was convicted at trial,” the Department of Justice stated in the filing.

During his trial, Bankman-Fried said that while he had made “significant oversights” during his time running FTX, he argued that he wasn’t a criminal.