Sam Bankman-Fried to return to court to hear legal representation

Former FTX CEO Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried will appear in front of a judge in one of the first cases since his initial criminal trial to address potential conflicts of interest within his legal team.

In a Feb. 7 filing in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Judge Lewis Kaplan ordered Banman-Fried to appear in person on Feb. 21 at Curcio's hearing over concerns about attorneys Mark Mucasey and Torey Young. According to the New York-based law firm Blanche, during Curcio's trial, a judge may ask the defendant — in this case, SBF — if he was informed of legal representation and any conflicts of interest.

The hearing stems from a Feb. 6 letter from U.S. attorneys concerned about Mukasey and Young, who filed subpoenas in the cases of both SBF and former CEO Alex Mashinsky. According to prosecutors, Celsius loaned money to FTX's sister company, Alameda Research. Mashinsky blamed the company's downfall in part on the SBF's actions — during the trial and sentencing of former crypto CEOs that could provide a “contrary position.”

Judges in their respective courts may ask whether Banman-Fried and Mashinsky want to waive their right to “conflict-free representation.” At the time of publication, a similar Curcio hearing notice had not been filed for the Mashinsky case. The former Celsius CEO's criminal trial is scheduled to begin in September.

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Banman-Fried, once the CEO of one of the world's largest crypto exchanges, was arrested in the Bahamas in November 2022 after FTX collapsed and was extradited to the US and charged with multiple criminal charges related to money laundering. between the company and Alameda. He is set to plead to 12 charges spread across two criminal trials in October 2023 and March 2024.

Jurors in the first trial found the former FTX CEO guilty of seven felony charges, and a sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 28. Reports suggest that SBF's previous conviction may not be reheard in March.

Since the conviction, SBF has been held in Brooklyn's Metropolitan Detention Center and mostly absent from the courtroom, as his attorneys continue to file motions seeking delays in the process. Information on the SBF prison is limited, but reports suggest that the former CEO's mackerel packages may have been traded for services rather than cryptocurrencies.

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