The DOJ wants to emphasize the experiences of institutional and retail clients who gave FTX access to significant amounts of money.
In the future trial against Sam Bankman-Fried, the former FTX CEO, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced its intention to call former FTX customers, investors, and employees as witnesses.
On September 30, the DOJ filed a letter motion in limine outlining the witnesses it intended to call in relation to FTX’s handling of customer funds.
The purpose of the testimony is to offer viewpoints on the interactions between the accused and the witnesses. It also tries to clarify for the witnesses what Bankman-Fried said and did, notably with reference to FTX’s asset management.
The DOJ wants to draw attention to the mistakes made by institutional and retail clients who entrusted FTX with their valuable assets in the hope that the platform would secure them.
In addition, a circumstance involving one of the DOJ’s witnesses, “FTX Customer-1,” who lives in Ukraine, has come to light. Travelling to the US to give testimony presents challenges due to the current situation in Ukraine. The DOJ has recommended video conferencing as a workable substitute. However, this suggestion has not yet been accepted by Bankman-Fried’s legal team.
However, the defence team for Bankman-Fried, lead by attorney Mark Cohen, has expressed dissatisfaction with the DOJ’s proposed jury questions. The defence of Bankman-Fried claims that these interrogations imply Bankman-Fried’s guilt, potentially compromising the legal doctrine of “innocent until proven guilty.”
The defence further claims that these questions might be ineffective at exposing the jurors’ ingrained prejudices, particularly those that are connected to their experiences with cryptocurrency. In addition, certain questions could unintentionally influence the jury’s viewpoint rather than generating genuine insights, which might jeopardise the fairness of the trial.
The focus is on this crucial legal dispute as the jury selection is set to begin on October 3 and be followed immediately by the trial.