SBF’s trial guarantees to be simply as riveting as the remainder of the FTX drama

‘The percentages appear to be stacked towards him at this level’

All eyes are on Sam Bankman-Fried this week as the previous CEO of crypto change FTX goes on trial in one of many greatest monetary fraud instances of this decade on Tuesday. And it figures: That is set to be a type of instances that’s going to encourage a bunch documentaries and books (there’s one already), since crypto is so new, there was a lot drama round Bankman-Fried and his former colleagues, there’s the sheer scale of the alleged fraud, and the large quantities of cash concerned.

Nonetheless, there’s plenty of hypothesis about what the case might seem like. So to get to the meat of the matter, we spoke to a handful of authorized specialists on what to anticipate.

Right here’s what we all know: Bankman-Fried will go on trial for seven counts of alleged fraud and conspiracy over a six-week interval, and if sentenced, he might spend the remainder of his life in jail. It’s a monetary crimes case, and there will likely be plenty of boring documentation concerned, however we are able to additionally count on some spicy drama provided that plenty of Bankman-Fried’s former colleagues have already pleaded responsible and could also be testifying towards him..

Some attorneys suppose the case might drag on for for much longer than the six weeks, although. (There’s a separate trial scheduled in March 2024 for expenses associated to political corruption and cash laundering.)

“Crypto is so difficult and so new, the prosecution must commit plenty of time simply to elucidate what distinguishes it from bizarre shares and bonds,” Anthony Sabino, professor of regulation at The Peter J. Tobin Faculty of Enterprise at St. John’s College, advised starcrypto+.

After which there’s the $8 billion that Bankman-Fried is alleged to have scammed from prospects. “In a single sense, that is your Enron, your Bernie Madoff, that once-in-a-decade kind of trial,” Christopher LaVigne, a associate within the litigation crew at regulation agency Withers, mentioned. “It’s an enormous deal and simply attempting to get a way of the sum of money that was misplaced and that’s at present being spent attempting to chase it round. It’s going to go on for a very long time to come back, identical to Bernie Madoff’s chapter [trial] went on perpetually.”

However it’s a monetary crimes case, so there’s additionally going to be plenty of slower components the place the attorneys and specialists get into the nitty gritty. “There’s going to be the section of the trial the place they need to introduce the transactional proof, and that’s when jurors go to sleep and it’s simply boring. It’s a doc case,” LaVigne mentioned. Nonetheless, it’s a routine and redundant a part of the proceedings, and must be finished to make a case on each side.

Based on Christine Adams, a former federal prosecutor who’s at present a associate at regulation agency Adams, Duerk & Kamenstein, that is basically a mix of the Elizabeth Holmes Theranos case and the Bernie Madoff case: Each these instances had a seemingly genius founder/mastermind behind a fancy and allegedly profitable enterprise that finally turned out to be one thing a lot much less concrete and authorized.

The testimonies of Bankman-Fried’s former colleagues and staffers who entered into plea offers with the federal government are certain to be thrilling, Sabino feels. And lots of people are anticipating the testimonies of these at present overseeing FTX’s chapter, who will clarify what they discovered upon assuming custody of the agency, its property, and its information.

Witnesses, proof and relationships