FTX cryptocurrency exchange founder Sam Bankman-Fried, who is on trial for fraud, needs a higher dose of ADHD medication to focus on the case and to “meaningfully” testify, his lawyers have said.
The 31-year-old is accused of stealing billions of dollars in FTX customer funds in a trial that began on October 3 at a Manhattan federal court.
In a letter to US District Judge Lewis Kaplan on Sunday, his lawyers said the one dose of Adderall their client is being given at jail early each morning, to treat his attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, wears off by the time the trial day starts.
“As we approach the defense case and the critical decision of whether Mr Bankman-Fried will testify, the defense has growing concern that because of Mr Bankman-Fried’s lack of access to Adderall he has not been able to concentrate at the level he ordinarily would,” his lawyers wrote.
The letter said that without the drugs, Mr Bankman-Fried “will not be able to meaningfully participate in the presentation of the defence case”.
Throughout the trial, Mr Bankman-Fried has been seen during testimony typing on a laptop and whispering to his lawyers.
Prosecutors accused the former billionaire of laughing during the testimony of star witness Caroline Ellison, the onetime chief executive officer of his Alameda Research hedge fund and former girlfriend.
His lawyer, Mark Cohen, called that charge “ridiculous”.
Mr Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty to two counts of fraud and five conspiracy counts tied to FTX’s November 2022 collapse, arguing that while he made mistakes running the exchange, he did not steal money.
Prosecutors have said they may wrap up their case as soon as October 26.
Defendants in US criminal cases have no obligation to present evidence, and taking the stand carries the risk of being subjected to probing cross-examination by prosecutors.
But Mr Bankman-Fried has defied the conventional playbook for white collar defendants of remaining largely silent.
He published blog posts a month after his December 2022 arrest, and shared Ms Ellison’s private writings with a New York Times reporter.
Judge Kaplan said that likely amounted to witness tampering on August 11 and remanded him to Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center.
In their letter, Mr Bankman-Fried’s lawyers proposed he be given a 12-hour extended release dose of Adderall before he leaves for the courthouse each morning.
The jury at Mr Bankman-Fried’s fraud trial on Monday saw a photograph of him with singer Katy Perry and actor Orlando Bloom at the 2022 NFL Super Bowl, as prosecutors sought to bolster their case that he squandered customer money on efforts to boost his stature.
Prosecutors displayed the image as Nishad Singh, FTX’s former director of engineering, testified about how the company spent hundreds of millions of dollars on celebrity partnerships and marketing in early 2022, months before the exchange declared bankruptcy amid a wave of customer withdrawals.
“It didn’t align with what I thought we were building the company for,” said Mr Singh, adding that he was “embarrassed and ashamed” at deals he said “reeked of excess and flashiness.”
