Sam Bankman-Fried’s (SBF) defense team filed an appeal seeking a review of the FTX exchange crash case. The lawyers said the trial was pressured by the media, the government, and Judge Lewis Kaplan.
According to the lawyers, the court “rushed to a guilty verdict” and Bankman-Fried himself was considered guilty before the trial began.
The lawyers argue the judge repeatedly interfered with the trial, showed bias and pushed the jury toward a speedy verdict. The appeal filing says Kaplan even “encouraged” the jurors to work quickly by offering them dinner and transportation so they wouldn’t delay the verdict.
The defense also said the judge mocked the defendant’s testimony and “demonstrated a lack of confidence” in his words.
In 2023, a jury found the FTX founder guilty of seven charges, including fraud and conspiracy. Prosecutors alleged that billions of dollars of clients’ money was funneled to an affiliated fund, Alameda Research, and used for investments, donations, and real estate purchases.
The entrepreneur ended up receiving 25 years in prison and ordered to repay $11 billion.
The defense’s main argument remains that Bankman-Fried had no intent to defraud clients. He allegedly believed that the exchange had enough assets to fully recover the losses. However, the judge, according to defense lawyers, improperly prohibited him from mentioning this to the jury.
At the same time, the prosecutors claimed that he “stole billions” and brought the company to bankruptcy, stressed the defense of the businessman.
The appeal is led by the well-known lawyer Alexandra Shapiro, who sought to overturn the verdicts in several fraud cases. She also said Judge Kaplan did not allow SBF to explain in detail how its actions were coordinated with FTX’s lawyers, depriving the defense of a key argument.
Among the prosecution’s witnesses were FTX co-founder Gary Wang, engineer Nishad Singh and former Alameda head Caroline Allison. All of them pleaded guilty and testified against SBF. Allison described how “alternative balances” were created to hide debts and withdraw customer funds.
Bankman-Fried, who is in a California jail, is not attending the hearing, but his team is seeking a new trial with a different judge.
In February 2025, SBF said it was seeking a pardon from US President Donald Trump. Then he called his case an example of “prosecutorial abuse of power”, which took place during the administration of Joseph Biden.