Judge Signs Major Order In Sam Bankman-Fried Lawsuit

In the latest development in the United States v. Sam Bankman-Fried, the federal judge granted prosecutors’ motion to preclude Sam Bankman-Fried from introducing evidence or argument about the current value of certain investments made by the defendant, especially $500 million investments in artificial intelligence company Anthropic.

Judge Preclude Sam Bankman-Fried From Investments Related Evidence

According to a court filing late October 16, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan signed an order granting prosecutors’ motion to prevent Sam Bankman-Fried from mentioning the value of current investments in artificial intelligence firm Anthropic. The prosecutors allege that the $500 million investment made by SBF in 2022 was made from stolen funds from FTX customers.

“For the reasons stated on the record in open court, the government’s motion to preclude the defendant from introducing evidence or argument about the current value of certain investments made by the defendant is granted.”

Prosecutors believe such evidence would therefore be wholly irrelevant, and present a substantial danger of unfair prejudice, confusing the issues, misleading the jury, undue delay, and waste of time. Along with FTX co-founder Bankman-Fried, former head of engineering Nishad Singh, and former Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison were also investors in Anthropic.

The defense even questioned Alameda CEO Ellison about investments in Anthropic. Ellison said she did as SBF forced to commit fraud, commingling customer funds.

SBF Seeks to Delay Trial

The defense has growing concerns that Sam Bankman-Fried may not testify without a 12-hour extended-release 20 mg dose. Lawyers said Sam Bankman-Fried is not able to focus without his prescribed medication. The lawyers have discussed it with the Court and Government, but they showed less effort to address the issue.

Meanwhile, Nishad Singh, the former head of engineering at FTX, testified that he knew about how the company used customers’ money in a way that was wrong. Prosecutors remain skeptical of the move as it may delay the lawsuit.

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