FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried subsisting on ‘bread and water’ in jail – Newz9

- Advertisement -

NEW YORK: Sam Bankman-Fried‘s requests for vegan meals and access to prescription medication in jail have gone unheeded, his lawyers said, adding that they need better access to their client to build his defense case.
The 31-year-old embattled crypto mogul has been “literally subsisting on bread and water” and a little peanut butter, his attorneys said, as they fought for more time with the FTX co-founder ahead of his October fraud trial. They made their arguments as Bankman-Fried appeared in federal court in Manhattan on Tuesday to plead not guilty to a narrower indictment.
It was his first court appearance since a judge revoked his bail after concluding that he likely tried to tamper with two witnesses. Bankman-Fried’s expenses had been minimize virtually by half, to exclude those who weren’t included in an settlement by the Bahamas to extradite him to the US final yr.
Preparing a protection
Bankman-Fried’s lawyer, Mark Cohen, stated his shopper hadn’t been given any Adderall since he was jailed and has just a few doses left of one other prescription drug, the antidepressant Emsam.
The legal professionals complained that they had been struggling to construct his protection with out entry to him. In the 11 days he has been in federal lockup, Bankman-Fried hasn’t been permitted to evaluation any of the thousands and thousands of pages of proof, his lawyer Christian Everdell stated, calling it a violation of his Sixth Amendment proper to counsel.
Everdell stated his crew had been offered with a plan for Bankman-Fried to evaluation the proof together with his legal professionals two days per week from 9 a.m. to three p.m., utilizing a laptop computer in a cell block in the courthouse, which he stated was insufficient.
“It means he cannot help prepare his defense,” Everdell stated.
Bankman-Fried has appealed the bail ruling however in the meantime is being held on the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn, New York. Before his $250 million bail package deal was revoked, he was residing at his mother and father’ California home.
Most critical expenses
Bankman-Fried entered his plea to seven counts of fraud and cash laundering, contained in a revised US indictment filed on Aug. 14. The counts on which he will likely be tried this yr are essentially the most critical he faces. Prosecutors say the alleged fraud scheme price prospects and buyers billions of {dollars}.
Bankman-Fried had contested the validity of 5 of the 13 counts in an earlier indictment, arguing they weren’t a part of the extradition pact that paved the way in which for his return to the US in December. The authorities severed these 5 expenses from the trial and dropped a sixth.
The former FTX mogul, who ran his crypto empire from the island nation, is accused of orchestrating a yearslong fraud at FTX and its buying and selling affiliate Alameda Research, each of which collapsed in November. He is because of go on trial on October 2.
The case is US v Bankman-Fried, 22-cr-673, US District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

Source link

- Advertisement -

Related Articles