Former FTX Chief Executive Sam Bankman-Fried, who faces fraud expenses over the collapse of the bankrupt cryptocurrency trade, walks exterior the Manhattan federal courtroom in New York City, U.S. March 30, 2023.
Amanda Perobelli | Reuters
Prosecutors within the legal trial in opposition to FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried in contrast one of many protection’s arguments to a scene within the 1994 movie “Dumb and Dumber,” through which actor Jim Carrey says IOUs are “as good as money.”
In a written temporary on Thursday to Judge Lewis Kaplan, who’s presiding over the Manhattan trial, assistant U.S. attorneys for the Southern District of New York took difficulty with a number of of the jury directions supplied by the protection staff.
One particular directive reminded prosecutors of the 29-year-old comedy about two less-than-intelligent buddies (performed by Carrey and Jeff Daniels) who take a cross-country journey to Colorado to return a briefcase full of cash to its proprietor, although the money had truly been left as ransom.
“If you find that FTX customers, after depositing funds with FTX, received a credit to transact on the FTX exchange and therefore received the right to withdraw an equivalent amount of funds at a later time upon request, that is insufficient to establish that they were deprived of property,” the jury instruction from the protection says.
Much of the federal government’s case hinges on billions of {dollars} that FTX, Bankman-Fried’s crypto trade, siphoned out of buyer accounts and used largely to try to cowl up losses at sister hedge fund Alameda Research after cryptocurrency costs plunged. Funds additionally allegedly went to paying for issues like a $35 million property within the Bahamas and political donations.
Customers have been in the end unable to retrieve a lot of their cash as FTX and Alameda have been concurrently imploding.
The protection, in accordance with prosecutors, is attempting to make the declare to the jury that purchasers nonetheless had a credit score to the funds they deposited even when the cash wasn’t there as a result of it was getting used for different issues. Prosecutors say the argument is “untethered to the facts of the case” and {that a} “credit to obtain funds at a later date, if such funds are ultimately available, is clearly not the same, or as valuable, as the money or property itself.”
In a footnote, the prosecution writes, “A popular movie from the 1990s illustrates the point: a briefcase, once filled with money, is not the same as a briefcase later filled with IOUs.” In “Dumb and Dumber,” when the briefcase reaches its proprietor, it is crammed with paper.
“That’s as good as money, sir,” says Carrey, taking part in the character Lloyd Christmas.
Actor Jim Carrey
Filippo Monteforte | AFP | Getty Images
Mark Cohen, Bankman-Fried’s lead protection lawyer, did not instantly reply to a request for remark.
Bankman-Fried, 31, faces seven legal fraud expenses tied to the collapse of his crypto empire late final yr. Bankman-Fried, who has pleaded not responsible, may face life in jail if convicted.
The first three weeks of the trial have been highlighted by testimony from Bankman-Fried’s former shut buddies, who have been additionally prime execs at FTX and Alameda and have since turned on him, some by way of plea offers with the federal government. The trial is scheduled to renew late subsequent week and lengthen into November.
On quite a few events, Judge Kaplan has referred to as sidebar conferences with the lead authorities attorneys and Bankman-Fried’s legal professionals, to debate their demeanor within the courtroom. Most not too long ago, on Thursday, Kaplan ripped into legal professionals from each side, particularly telling the prosecution that their newest professional witnesses knew nothing particular about essential particulars and but referred to as Bankman-Fried’s conduct legal. Both sides have been warned to do higher and to speak extra with one another.
— CNBC’s Kate Rooney and Dawn Giel contributed to this report
WATCH: Prosecution in Sam Bankman-Fried trial wrapping up in coming days
Source: www.cnbc.com”