The Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) trial reached a head on Nov. 1, with either side presenting their closing arguments to the jury earlier than it deliberates on a verdict.
The prosecution’s closing argument revolved round portray Bankman-Fried as a serial liar pushed by greed and who deliberately took buyer deposits on fraudulent phrases and spent them.
In the meantime, the protection advised the jury that the federal government’s portrayal of the previous billionaire was unfair and unfaithful, sustaining Bankman-Fried’s failings to be a sequence of enterprise errors.
Greed and fraud
Assistant U.S. Lawyer Nicolas Roos kicked off the prosecution’s closing statements by emphasizing the large weight of the proof offered by key witnesses all through the trial. He reiterated to the jury:
“Virtually a yr in the past, 1000’s of individuals from everywhere in the world who deposited cash with FTX began withdrawing funds.”
It’s undisputed {that a} staggering $10 billion from FTX’s crypto trade vanished, with a portion utilized for diverse functions akin to actual property investments, mortgage repayments, and political donations.
Roos pressed on the guts of the matter for the jury: whether or not SBF acknowledged his actions in misappropriating the funds as fallacious. He asserted:
“The defendant schemed and lied to get cash, which he spent.”
Roos additionally highlighted the distinction in SBF’s demeanor when answering questions posed by his protection in comparison with these from the prosecution. He identified the repeated cases the place the defendant responded with “I can’t recall” throughout questioning, noting the quantity exceeded 140 instances.
The prosecutor additionally delivered to the jury’s consideration the timeline of questionable monetary choices made by immediately and solely SBF, together with huge transfers to varied entities and private bills. Roos ended his argument by stating:
“That’s all it is advisable to know to seek out him responsible.”
Roos offered a complete timeline to jurors throughout his speech, detailing moments akin to SBF discovering a $13.7 billion gap in FTX’s funds and subsequent monetary transactions, suggesting they showcased the defendant’s guilt.
SBF acted in good religion
The protection painted a starkly completely different image for the jury throughout its closing argument as lead counsel Mark Cohen took the helm to defend SBF.
Cohen began by telling the jury that the federal government’s portrayal of SBF is a caricature that has tried to make him seem like a “monster” and a “villain.” He argued that the case was constructed on the false premise that FTX was designed as a fraudulent enterprise to steal buyer funds deliberately.
Cohen lamented the narrative the prosecution had spun, likening it to a film the place his consumer was being vilified. He added that the prosecution had used SBF’s life-style decisions and relationships to painting him as a “monster” with out proving his guilt. Cohen remarked:
“Each film wants a villain.”
The protection went on to bifurcate the case into two distinct intervals. The primary spanned from 2019 to 2021, the place he asserted there was no trace of felony intent, and everybody concerned believed they had been a part of probably the most profitable crypto trade globally.
The second interval — from June 2022 to November 2022 — marked the business’s downturn when many companies failed, and Alameda’s misuse of buyer funds got here to mild.
Cohen advised the jury that SBF believed the shortfall was a liquidity downside moderately than a solvency situation and thought there have been adequate funds to cope with the difficulty each on and off the trade. He additional emphasised that poor enterprise choices don’t equate to felony acts.
The protection urged the jury to acknowledge the excellence and perceive that the burden of proving SBF’s felony intent rests closely on the prosecution, a burden that the protection believes has not been met.
Deliberations
The trial is ready to conclude within the coming days, with the jury anticipated to deliberate and arrive at a verdict inside a day or two, barring any unexpected delays.
The trial, which started in early October, has seen testimonies from a number of key witnesses, together with these near SBF. Amongst them had been Caroline Ellison, his ex-girlfriend and former Alameda co-CEO, and Gary Wang, FTX’s co-founder.
Each pleaded responsible to prices in December 2022 and served as key witnesses for the prosecution in the course of the trial.
Choose Lewis Kaplan, overseeing the trial, expressed a want for a verdict by the night of Nov. 2. He requested if the jury could be okay with extending their hours to make sure a verdict is reached on time.
If convicted, SBF faces a possible life sentence for prices together with wire fraud, securities fraud, and cash laundering, all linked to the dramatic downfall of FTX and its sister hedge fund, Alameda Analysis.