Sam Bankman-Fried Seeks New Trial in FTX Fraud Case

Former FTX chief CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has asked a federal court for a new trial on fraud charges, arguing that previously unavailable witness testimony could undermine the government’s case that led to his 25-year prison sentence.

In a motion filed Feb. 5 in Manhattan federal court, Bankman-Fried challenged his 2023 conviction, though the request is separate from his formal appeal, as Bloomberg reported. Motions for a new trial face a high legal bar and are rarely granted.

The filing was submitted to the court by Bankman-Fried’s mother, retired Stanford law professor Barbara Fried, and is now under review. Bloomberg described the effort as a long shot.

Still, the move keeps the case active and highlights Bankman-Fried’s strategy of contesting the verdict on multiple fronts, even after the fallout of FTX’s collapse reverberated across the crypto industry for years.

Bankman-Fried was convicted on seven criminal counts tied to the misuse of customer funds at FTX and its affiliated trading company, Alameda Research, in one of the most consequential fraud cases in crypto’s history. Despite the conviction, Bankman-Fried has maintained his innocence. 

Related: Fenwick agrees to settle lawsuit alleging role in FTX collapse

What the filing argues, specifically 

In the motion, Bankman-Fried contends that testimony from former FTX executives Daniel Chapsky and Ryan Salame could challenge the prosecution’s narrative about the company’s financial condition before its collapse in November 2022.

Neither executive appeared at trial, though Salame pleaded guilty to campaign finance and fraud-related charges. He’s currently serving a seven-and-a-half-year prison sentence.

Bankman-Fried also asked that a different judge review the motion, arguing that trial judge Lewis Kaplan showed “manifest prejudice” during the proceedings.

Those claims echo previous arguments raised in Bankman-Fried’s appeal hearing, where his lawyer said Kaplan improperly barred the defense from telling jurors that sufficient funds were available to repay investors.

Meanwhile, the FTX bankruptcy estate, the pool of remaining assets overseen by court-appointed administrators, continues to make progress in returning funds to affected customers. The exchange is using a phased repayment process and distributed billions of dollars to creditors in 2025, with additional payouts expected as asset recoveries and claims reviews continue.

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