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Sam Bankman-Fried is charged with 13 different crimes, including money laundering, bank fraud and conspiracy. SBF's legal team has requested that all criminal charges against him be dismissed, with the exception of conspiracy to commit commodity fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering .
SBFe and his lawyers say prosecutors charged him with worrying haste rather than waiting for traditional civil and regulatory processes to take their ordinary course. Molly White, a cryptocurrency researcher, said: “At least in part it appears that the additional charges were brought after the SBF extradition deal was signed”.
SBF was initially extradited to the United States from the Bahamas to face eight criminal charges for alleged fraud and money laundering. However, his legal team argues that four of the five additional charges brought since last February violate the treaty's specialty rule.
"Under the specialty rule, generally the requesting State is required to try the extradited offender only for the offense for which he was extradited. During extradition proceedings in the Bahamas, all parties to the case, coram judice, and the Court itself , were aware that the specialty rules applied despite the use of the simplified procedure.
There was no waiver of the specialty rule. On the contrary, there was an explicit acknowledgment of its application." These four charges include conspiracy to commit bank fraud and other individual charges of computer fraud related to the alleged actions of FTX and Alameda.
The most recent indictment, filed on March 28, involves allegedly bribing a Chinese government official for $40 million. SBF's attorneys are seeking to dismiss other charges relating to conspiracy to defraud the United States and charges relating to computer fraud and conspiracy to commit computer fraud, arguing that in these counts the felony does not has been properly declared.
In fact, according to his legal team, the first indictment sent via a diplomatic note does not adequately specify the violation related to campaign finance laws and does not refer to any US bank accounts, including bank accounts affiliated with FTX or Alamenda in connection with allegations of computer fraud.
