FTX Founder Sam Bankman-Fried Makes Bold Move to Have Criminal Charges Dismissed in Court

The former CEO of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), is attempting to have a maximum of 10 criminal charges against him dismissed prior to his scheduled criminal trial in October.

SBF's legal team filed court documents on May 8 in the Southern District Court in New York, requesting the dismissal of all but three charges, which are conspiracy to commit commodities fraud, conspiracy to commit securities fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

According to Cointelegraph, crypto researcher Molly White speculated that the reason for the request may be due to additional charges being added after SBF's extradition agreement was established.

SBF was extradited from the Bahamas to the United States to face eight criminal charges of alleged fraud and money laundering. However, his legal team is arguing that four of the five additional charges, which were added since February, violate the Treaty's rule of specialty provision.

According to the "rule of specialty," the U.S. must generally only try the extradited offender (SBF) for the crime for which they were extradited.

SBF's legal team is arguing that four of the five charges added since his extradition violate this rule. These charges include conspiracy to commit bank fraud, individual wire fraud charges related to his alleged actions at FTX and Alameda, and an alleged bribery of a Chinese government official.