A New York judge has granted prosecutors’ request to adjourn the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) and Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) civil proceedings until after the criminal trial of Sam Bankman- Fried in October.
On February 13, Manhattan District Judge Kevin Castel granted requests to stay civil proceedings “without prejudice,” meaning the cases will be halted until the Department of Justice (DOJ) criminal trial is concluded.
The motion was first filed on February 7 by Damian Williams, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, requesting the postponement of the two civil cases against the founder and former CEO of FTX.
both civil cases (one from the SEC and one from the CFTC) have been stayed until the conclusion of the criminal trial against Sam Bankman-Fried https://t.co/3i28naGtnl
— Molly White (@molly0xFFF) February 14, 2023
Mentioning your reasons for wanting the delay, Williams stressed that all three cases will most likely hinge on providing the same evidence against Bankman-Fried, and that the DOJ trial in October will have a “significant impact” on these civil cases.
He also suggested that failure to delay cases may give SBF unfair advantages in the DOJ trial, as the FTX founder had the tools to “improperly obtain impeachment material regarding government witnesses, circumvent criminal discovery rules, and improperly tailor his defense in the criminal case.”
Bankman-Fried’s legal team did not oppose William’s request to stay the proceedings.
In a related court event on February 9 in connection to the alleged witness tampering strategies of Bankman-Fried, Judge lewis kaplan of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York extended the ban on the FTX founder from using all encrypted messaging apps until February 21, as part of your bail conditions.
One week before, Bankman-Fried’s legal team had negotiated an agreement to use certain encrypted applications under strict supervision, but Judge Kaplan eventually struck it down, suggesting he was more concerned with shutting down any encrypted communication than offering Bankman-Fried a little comfort.
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