By Luc Cohen
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Sam Bankman-Fried, the indicted founder of bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange FTX, wants a U.S. judge to throw out criminal charges brought against him following his extradition from the Bahamas.
In papers filed late Monday in Manhattan federal court, lawyers for the former billionaire said they asked Bahamas’ Supreme Court to bar the country’s government from authorizing U.S. prosecutors to move forward on the five charges, until their client has a chance to be heard.
The lawyers said a sixth charge, for violating U.S. campaign finance laws, should also be dismissed though it was brought before his extradition, because the Bahamas did not consent to it.
They want U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan to dismiss the charges, or try them separately from seven additional charges at Bankman-Fried’s scheduled Oct. 2 trial. FTX was based in the Caribbean country.
“To proceed otherwise would cause significant prejudice to Mr. Bankman-Fried and should not be permitted,” his lawyers wrote on Monday.
A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan declined to comment.
Bankman-Fried, 31, was extradited in December from the Bahamas to face charges he stole from customers, lied to investors and lenders, and violated campaign finance laws.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan later accused him of bank fraud and bribing Chinese officials.
Bankman-Fried has pleaded not guilty. He has acknowledged inadequate risk management at FTX, but denied stealing funds.
An extradition treaty between the United States and the Bahamas says a country must consent before defendants can be tried on charges brought after their extradition.
U.S. prosecutors have said will drop Bankman-Fried’s post-extradition charges if the Bahamas does not consent.
Bankman-Fried has also said some of the original charges rely on a fraud theory known as “right to control” that the U.S. Supreme Court last month declared invalid.
Under that theory, a defendant can be convicted for depriving someone of economically valuable information, not just tangible property.
Prosecutors have said that theory does not apply in Bankman-Fried’s case.
Kaplan is expected to hear arguments on Thursday.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York)
