Almost six months after his arrest, Sam Bankman-Fried's legal saga continues.
Sam Bankman-Fried, a co-founder and former CEO of crypto exchange FTX, aims to fortify his defense in an ongoing criminal case by subpoenaing documents from Fenwick & West, his former legal counsel, that once advised FTX, Alameda Research, and Bankman-Fried himself.
A memorandum submitted to the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York reveals that Fenwick & West has expressed its inability to hand over the documents without the consent of FTX debtors.
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Currently, the documents are held by the FTX debtors and the government. The records in question reportedly contain advice and other related content produced by the firm throughout its service period.
The FTX Debtors have given the Government full access to its documents, without the need to issue subpoenas, and are so enmeshed in the Government’s investigation that they must be considered part of the ‘prosecution team’ for purposes of the Government’s discovery obligations.
The requested documents, encapsulated in 11 different requests, touch upon "critical topics that are material to preparing the defense."
In particular, the topics of the documents range from the incorporation of FTX, FTX US, and Alameda, the financial and legal ties among these entities, to FTX's data retention policies, liquidity, and margin lending practices.
Facing a 13-count criminal charge, Bankman-Fried has entered a not-guilty plea to eight of these charges, which, if proven, could lead to a 115-year prison sentence. Five additional charges were appended to the original eight following his extradition from the Bahamas. He subsequently moved to have the majority of these charges dismissed.
As the legal saga surrounding Sam Bankman-Fried continues, his move to subpoena documents from his former legal counsel illustrates a significant development in his defense strategy. The outcome of this request and its potential impact on the case will undoubtedly be closely watched by the cryptocurrency community.
