Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX, may testify in his defense to provide insight into various aspects of FTX’s operations, according to court filings.
His defense team is seeking permission to ask him about his knowledge of lawyers’ involvement in FTX’s decision-making processes and industry practices, his intentions regarding FTX’s funds as the company faced financial difficulties, and his knowledge of FTX and Alameda’s financials.
The defense filing specifically seeks to explore FTX’s use of auto-deletion policies for Signal and Slack messages, the establishment of North Dimension and its associated bank accounts, loans made from FTX and Alameda Research to executives, and related issues.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has suggested that some of these issues could be evidence of criminal intent.
Sam Bankman-Fried’s defense aims to demonstrate that he did not intend to defraud customers or investors and that he relied on legal counsel for his actions.
The defense is particularly interested in exploring the “good faith intentions” behind FTX’s attempts to move assets to the Securities Commission of the Bahamas after filing for bankruptcy.
The defense also wants to use charts detailing Alameda’s financial information when Bankman-Fried testifies, but the DOJ opposes this unless the data sources are disclosed.
Additionally, the defense plans to list the titles of attorneys present in group chats involving Bankman-Fried, a move opposed by the DOJ as they find it irrelevant and potentially misleading to the jury.
One of the proposed witnesses, Bahamas attorney Krystal Rolle, could provide insight into Bankman-Fried’s conversations with the Bahamas securities regulator.
However, the DOJ has requested proper paperwork for cross-examination preparation. If these materials are not provided, they suggest blocking Rolle’s testimony.
