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Title: Sam Bankman-Fried, Former Crypto Billionaire, Appeals His Conviction
To the US Supreme Court

Link: https://yro.slashdot.org/story/26/09/12/21512...

America's highest court heard Sam Bankman-Fried's request for a new trial on
Thursday, CNN reports. But they add that "the former crypto mogul who was
convicted of defrauding investors by secretly diverting billions of dollars
of their money" also asked America's high court "to throw out a court order
requiring him to pay $11 billion as part of his sentence." Bankman-Fried was
sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2024 after prosecutors said he directed
billions of dollars from the crypto exchange FTX to a hedge fund he
controlled called Alameda Research, where the funds were used for risky
investments, political donations and his own personal benefit. The Supreme
Court appeal, which was reviewed by CNN, raises a technical question about
evidence that was submitted at his trial, and whether Bankman-Fried should
have been permitted to demonstrate that his investments were ultimately sound
and would have covered any losses by FTX customers. He also argues that the
$11 billion forfeiture violates the 8th Amendment's prohibition on excessive
fines. "Where the government pursues a theory of fraud under which it doesn't
matter whether any victims lost money, introducing evidence suggesting that
people actually lost money is distracting and prejudicial," veteran Supreme
Court attorney Jeffrey Fisher told CNN. "All the more so where the truth is
the victims did not lose money, and the defendant is unable to make that
clear." The 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals rejected the arguments earlier
this year.

Read more of this story at Slashdot.

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