Sam Bankman-Fried, who has been accused of committing fraud against FTX, the cryptocurrency exchange that he founded, is receiving a slight reprieve from federal prosecutors.
Prosecutors now are seeking to eliminate five charges against Bankman-Fried, including one charge of bribery of a foreign government official, and move them to a new trial next year. A judge will then make a decision on those five charges.
DON'T MISS: Timeline of Cryptocurrency Exchange FTX's Epic Collapse
The prosecutors said they could begin the trial against the former billionaire in October with only eight charges of the total original 13 charges, according to a court filing.
In December, Bankman-Fried was extradited from the Bahamas to the U.S. Those five charges included bribing a foreign government and bank fraud, and were added after his extradition.
Bankman-Fried's lawyers argued that adding additional charges should not have occurred after he was extradited.
The prosecutors asked Judge Lewis Kaplan of Federal District Court in Manhattan to instead have Bankman-Friend face those five charges early next year.
The former billionaire's legal team had stated in front of both Bahamian and U.S. judges that these charges were brought after Bankman-Fried's original indictment.
A court in the Bahamas already ruled, giving Bankman-Fried's lawyers the green light to argue that the Bahamanian government should not agree to the five additional charges. The case in the Bahamas could take several months before it is resolved.
But the charges have only been “severed” and delayed until 2024.
The founder of the Bahamas-based brokerage was indicted on eight counts originally and that case could is expected to take place later in 2023.
He pled not guilty on those eight counts. Bankman-Fried is being prosecuted by the office of U.S. Attorney Damian Williams.
How FTX Collapsed
Bankman-Fried, whose company filed bankruptcy in 2022, was indicted on eight counts, including conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. He was alleged to have been the mastermind behind stealing billions of dollars from his customers to finance his lifestyle, which included buying expensive real estate and making donations to politicians.
FTX was once worth $32 billion after raising money from investors such as Softbank, Temasek, Tiger Global and others in January 2022.
By November 11, FTX filed for bankruptcy along with all its subsidiaries and all the other Bankman-Fried businesses. He was forced to resign.
A new CEO was appointed to lead the restructuring of the cryptocurrency empire. John Ray, the new CEO and chief restructuring officer, was the liquidator of energy broker Enron.
Bankman-Fried has remained under house arrest in Palo Alto, California.
