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Despite dropping a campaign finance charge, the Department of Justice remains firm in its pursuit of legal action against FTX founder, Sam Bankman-Fried. The dismissal of the charge is not a green light for Bankman-Fried but rather a brief intermission in a series of forthcoming trials.
Scheduled to face the court this coming October 2, Bankman-Fried is confronted with a slew of charges, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. An encore awaits him next March, as he faces an additional round of charges such as bank fraud and bribery of foreign officials.
This recent decision to drop a charge has stirred suspicion, with whispers of political influence. The Department of Justice has been navigating tricky extradition waters with the Bahamas, which has a history with Bankman-Fried. After being arrested in the Bahamas in December 2022 at the U.S. government's behest, Bankman-Fried exercised his right to challenge extradition, only to later concede.
The charges he initially faced upon extradition were eight in number. Over time, the Justice Department tacked on five more, causing a legal dust-up. Bankman-Fried’s attorneys claimed that the Bahamas needed to approve these additional charges, in accordance with extradition treaty stipulations. The U.S. Department of Justice showed willingness to await approval, but a Supreme Court judge ruled that Bankman-Fried had the right to dispute this first. Consequently, the Justice Department decided to handle these extra five charges separately, pushing their trial to next March.
The Justice Department remains mum about whether it will reintroduce this charge in the March trial. The prosecutors, meanwhile, are rushing to submit a formal request to have Bankman-Fried remanded into custody. This follows allegations by U.S. Assistant Attorney Danielle Sassoon of Bankman-Fried's attempt to interfere with witness testimony by sharing sensitive information with The New York Times, a breach of his release conditions.
