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Sam Bankman-fried has requested to meet with John J. Ray III, the insolvency practitioner and new CEO of FTX, to offer him help with funds and other inquiries. SBF was charged with eight counts, including wire fraud and conspiracy to misuse client funds.
A hearing is scheduled for October in federal court. Bankman-Fried wrote an email to Ray, the bankruptcy trustee who took over the exchange after it filed for bankruptcy in November last year, offering his help with the funds: "I know things haven't gotten off on the right foot, but I really want to help, whether it's funding or anything else." Ray has already lashed out at SBF and the former management of FTX for the sheer lack of financial records, making it extremely difficult to trace the funds.
Last year Ray stated that FTX collapsed precisely because of the concentration of control in the hands of a very small group of grossly inexperienced individuals.
Sam Bankman-Fried requested a meeting with FTX CEO John Ray
US.
Justice Department also objected to FTX hiring Sullivan & Cromwell, the law firm currently in charge of the exchange's investigation, citing potential conflicts of interest. That's because FTX US general counsel Miller previously worked at S&C for eight years.
The Department of Justice said the investigation would place the law firm in the conflicted position of investigating itself and its former partner. Last week, federal prosecutors said they contacted the current general counsel of FTX US that he may be a witness at the trial.
The current director of FTX US is Ryne Miller, who was also a former partner at Kirkland & Ellis. In addition to Miller, SBF has been in contact with other current and former FTX US employees, the filing reads. US authorities argue that SBF's request suggests an attempt to influence the testimony and that its effort to improve the relationship with Miller may constitute an attempt to influence the witness.
Sam Bankman-Fried, the disgraced founder of FTX, was later arrested in the Bahamas after US prosecutors formally filed a criminal charge against him. Eventually he was extradited to the United States where he was released after posting $250 million bail in a New York court. Photo Credit: pic by the New York Post