Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), whose reputation plummeted due to the collapse of FTX, was freed from detention in exchange for a sky-high bail agreement of 250 million US dollars on the 23rd. He is now under house arrest in his family's property in California, USA, and will be summoned to stand trial in the Southern District Court of New York on January 3, Eastern Time.
SBF may not be able to reduce the charge by "confessing guilt"
Although there have been reports that SBF is likely to reach a plea agreement, according to Cointelegraph, Mark Kasten, a lawyer for a blockchain and crypto asset practice organization, said that SBF will not be able to offset the charges he faces by pleading guilty.
Kasten further explained that the government often requires defendants to "assist in prosecuting others" in order to gain credit for cooperation, but key executives including former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison and FTX co-founder Gary Wang have pleaded guilty and reached a negotiation with prosecutors , so SBF can only be tried by a judge.
It is unlikely that prosecutors will offer SBF a "favorable" plea deal.
Further reading: Former Alameda CEO and FTX co-founder each paid bail of $250,000 and were placed under border control! Cooperate with SBF to investigate the case
SBF currently faces eight criminal charges, including wire fraud conspiracy, money laundering conspiracy, conspiracy to defraud the Federal Election Commission, and violation of campaign finance regulations. In addition, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) have also filed civil lawsuits against it. Foreign media previously judged that if all charges are proven, he may face up to 115 years in prison.
Bloomberg: SBF had at least 4 meetings with Biden's deputy that were never disclosed
On the other hand, according to Bloomberg, before FTX went bankrupt, SBF had at least four meetings on cryptocurrency policy with White House deputies in the Biden administration, which were never disclosed.
Further reading: SBF’s political donation is powerful! Eight U.S. congressmen from both parties "tried to stop the SEC from investigating FTX exchange"
A White House official familiar with the matter said SBF met with Steve Ricchetti, one of Biden's senior advisers, on September 8, which was the most recent meeting. At the same time, SBF also visited the White House on April 22 and May 12, and met with Steve each time. On May 13, he met with Bruce Reed, another senior Biden aide.
In addition, SBF's brother Gabriel Bankman-Fried also visited the White House. Officials said Gabriel Bankman-Fried mainly discussed matters related to his operation of the Guarding Against Pandemics Foundation.
