Sam
Bankman-Fried, the Founder of the FTX who was jailed earlier in the month, has
pleaded not guilty to allegations of fraud and money laundering contained in an
updated indictment unveiled by US prosecutors, according to media reports. On Tuesday, he maintained
his innocence before US Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn in the first
court appearance since his bail was revoked on August 11.
In January,
the former crypto billionaire had similarly pledged “not
guilty” to eight
counts of criminal charges, including conspiracy to commit wire and securities
fraud, money laundering and conspiracy to violate campaign finance rules. In March,
prosecutors expanded the charges to 13, including allegations that
Bank-man-Fried violated the anti-bribery provisions of the United States by bribing Chinese
officials in late 2021.
However,
the revised indictment contains only seven counts of charges related to the
collapse of FTX, Reuters reported on Tuesday. In the new indictment,
prosecutors incorporated allegations related to
campaign finance law violation, as an extradition treaty with the Bahamas prevents them from
making direct allegations in that regard, according
to CoinDesk.
Meanwhile,
during Bankman-Fried’s court appearance on Tuesday, Bankman-Fried’s lawyers
claimed that the FTX’s Founder is being denied access to his depression and
deficit hyperactive disorder medicine at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn where he
is being jailed. Furthermore, they saidBankman-Fried is being denied of a vegan
meal plan and “is literally now subsisting on bread and water.”
Last week,
Bankman-man’s lawyers in a letter to US District Judge Lewis Kaplan in
Manhattan complained that allowing the former FTX CEO to only meet
with his legal counsel twice a week to prepare for his October trial is
“entirely inadequate”. They added that permitting the embattled crypto entrepreneur to meet his lawyer without a dedicated computer violates his rights
under the Sixth Amendment of the US Constitution.
On Tuesday,
the legal team raised the issue gain, noting that Bankman-Fried requires access
to a laptop with internet connectivity in order to be able to examine the
“millions” of documents obtained during the discovery process. Previously, requested that the court permit the former billionaire…
