Sam Bankman-Fried files for new trial over FTX fraud charges

Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of collapsed crypto exchange FTX, is seeking a new trial, according to a request filed in a New York federal court by his mother.

Since being convicted and imprisoned on a 25-year sentence, SBF has been continually challenging his situation in court. The latest motion for a new trial, first reported on Tuesday by Inner City Press, was filed by his mother, Barbara Fried, claiming new evidence in the case would justify a reset. The filing noted the initial absence of testimony from figures, including FTX’s Ryan Salame, who fought his own, separate legal battle.

The former FTX executive, Salame, was also convicted on federal charges but had claimed he made an arrangement to cooperate with prosecutors that should have protected his wife, Michelle Bond, from legal pursuit. She was later charged with allegedly taking illegal campaign contributions in her congressional bid.

SBF’s 35-page document arrived at the court as a pro se request, meaning the defendant is representing himself.

Earlier efforts by SBF to argue he didn’t get a fair initial trial — which came to a head in November — were met with some skepticism by appellate judges. SBF’s defense in seeking a retrial through appeal focused attention on the later solvency of FTX, and his account on the social media site X continues to make the argument that the company wasn’t bankrupt when it collapsed. However, judges contended in November that solvency didn’t seem to be the primary issue.

“Part of the government’s theory of the case is that the defendant misrepresented to investors that their money was safe, was not being used in the way that it was the government claims and the jury convicted it was, in fact, used,” said Circuit Judge Maria Araújo Kahn, referring to the misappropriation of customer money at the heart of his conviction.

Shutting down another potential path to freedom, President Donald Trump recently said he wouldn’t consider clemency for SBF. However, the former FTX CEO is still campaigning for himself via his account on X, arguing he’s a victim of former President Joe Biden’s “lawfare machine.”