NEW YORK — Fallen FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried had his mammoth Manhattan fraud case split in two Thursday, with a judge agreeing to let prosecutors try him in separate trials.
After hearing arguments, Manhattan Federal Court Judge Lewis Kaplan granted a request by the government to divide the 13 charges facing the embattled crypto entrepreneur. He will head to trial this October on the first round of charges he faced upon his extradition from the Bahamas, where FTX was based. He’ll return for a second trial in March 2024 for charges brought after his return to the U.S.
Prosecutors accuse Bankman-Fried of orchestrating a yearslong fraud while he was crowned the king of cryptocurrency. He’s accused of victimizing thousands of FTX customers by diverting billions in stolen deposits to repay his trading firm Alameda Research’s debts, among related crimes. Upon his December extradition, he was hit with eight counts, including wire fraud and money laundering.
