Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has claimed that prosecutors have missed discovery deadlines for crucial evidence required for his defense against multiple fraud charges. Bankman-Fried’s lawyers informed United States District Judge Lewis A. Kaplan in a letter on June 5 that the government had not provided all the contents of five electronic devices that were due for discovery by the end of March.
The devices in question include a laptop and iPhone belonging to former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison, as well as a laptop belonging to FTX co-founder Gary Wang. Bankman-Fried’s defense team expressed concerns that the delayed production of such important discovery would impact their trial preparation, as the trial date is less than four months away.
Bankman-Fried is scheduled to appear in court on October 2, facing charges of fraud, illegal political donations, and bribes to the Chinese government. While he does not want to adjourn the trial date, the letter indicated that additional motions may be filed if the newly produced discovery provides grounds for new arguments.
The letter also stated that the government has failed to provide information related to FTX debtors, further affecting the defense’s ability to properly prepare for trial. The late productions of evidence have been substantial, totaling over 3.6 million documents and over 10 million pages, with the most recent production alone consisting of nearly 2.5 million documents, more than tripling the existing discovery.
In other news, FTX bankers, who are working to rescue the struggling company, are reportedly considering cashing out shares in AI startup Anthropic, which is part of the booming artificial intelligence sector. Perella Weinberg, the investment banking firm retained by the bankrupt exchange, is said to be enticing potential investors with the sale of hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of Anthropic shares. FTX held $500 million worth of Anthropic stock at the time of its bankruptcy in November 2022, and its value has likely increased significantly with the current AI market boom. Anthropic recently raised $450 million in a Series C funding round, valuing the company at $4.6 billion.
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