FTX Founder SBF Appeals Fraud Conviction Case, Criticizes Judge Kaplan

The convicted FTX founder, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), has appealed his fraud conviction case. In a 102-page appeal filed before a three-judge panel on Friday at the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, SBF criticized Judge Kaplan, who presided over his conviction, for being unfair and biased.

SBF’s new lawyer, Alexandra Shapiro, filed the court document on his client’s behalf. Shapiro took over from the FTX founder’s former lawyers, Mark Cohen and Christian Everdell.

SBF Blames Judge

In November 2022, SBF’s top companies, FTX and Alameda Research, experienced a cataclysmic collapse, wiping billions of dollars from the crypto market. Exactly a year after the crash, the infamous FTX founder was judged and convicted of seven counts of fraud and conspiracy charges linked to the company’s downfall. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Fast-forward to the present. SBF blamed the presiding judge for unjustly overseeing his case. Shapiro argued that Judge Kaplan never saw Sam Bankman-Fried as innocent. She added that the judge blocked certain defense arguments capable of proving her client’s possible innocence.

Further proving her points, Shapiro wrote in the court filing:

In the United States, people accused of crimes are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. [However,] Sam Bankman-Fried was never presumed innocent. [. . .] He was presumed guilty by the judge who presided over his trial.”

SBF’s lawyer asked the three-judge appeal to replace Judge Kaplan’s 25-year sentence with a lighter 6.5 years jail time.

Notably, Bankman-Fried had previously hinted that he would appeal the fraud conviction case. In a May interview with news outlet Puck, the FTX founder shared insights on his prison life. He claimed that he relied on his bags of rice for bargaining power to ensure protection in jail.

“FTX Was Never Insolvent”

The FTX founder’s latest appeal leaned heavily on FTX Estate’s repayment success. The troubled crypto figure claimed that the crypto derivatives exchange was never insolvent, and he was forced to file for bankruptcy when, in fact, the firm had billions of dollars to settle customers.

Since FTX’s current CEO, John Ray III, took over, the troubled exchange has worked toward gathering funds to repay creditors.