DOJ Agrees to Only Try Sam Bankman-Fried on Original Charges – For Now

Federal prosecutors will temporarily withdraw several of the charges facing Sam Bankman-Fried as he fights to get them tossed.

The founder of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange faces an October trial on charges related to his company.

Prosecutors claim Bankman-Fried cheated investors and looted customer deposits to make lavish real estate purchases, donate money to politicians and make risky trades at Alameda Research, his cryptocurrency hedge fund trading firm.

FTX declared bankruptcy in November in a stunning collapse. The crypto exchange ran out of money after the equivalent of a bank run.

The New York Times reports that the government will not pursue five of the 13 charges against Bankman-Fried.  Those charges were added after his extradition from the Bahamas.

The defense argued that he shouldn’t have had additional charges added after he was brought back to the United States.

The additional charges include bank fraud, operating an unlicensed money transmitter and bribery, according to Coin Desk.

Prosecutors wrote a letter to the judge late Wednesday night that they are going to put the additional charges aside while a decision is rendered on them being allowed.

“The Government is prepared to proceed to trial as scheduled on the counts contained in the original Indictment," the letter said.

The government is asking the court to schedule a trial on the additional counts for the first quarter of 2024, assuming the resolution of the fight over the charges is finished.