FTX Collapse

“He poured money — other people’s money — into investments to make himself even richer,” the prosecutor said in opening arguments.

A federal judge has chosen the 12 people who will decide whether FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried violated fraud and other laws in running his once-mighty crypto exchange.

Sam Bankman-Fried cannot blame FTX’s lawyers for its collapse or operations in his opening statements, though he can still try and make a so-called “advice-of-counsel” defense later, the federal judge overseeing his case ruled Sunday.

The U.S. Department of Justice said it intends to call FTX customers, investors and cooperating witnesses to testify against Sam Bankman-Fried at trial next week, including a Ukrainian local who would have difficulty getting to the courthouse in-person.

Sam Bankman-Fried’s attorneys objected to some of the U.S. Department of Justice’s proposed voir dire questions in a late Friday filing, saying they may miss potential juror bias or otherwise lead to jurors making assumptions about the case.

The U.S. Department of Justice said in a Wednesday court filing that Sam Bankman-Fried’s latest move for a temporary release – even with severe restrictions – should be denied.