American judge dismisses SBF's request for a retrial and criticizes his claims as "full of bizarre conspiracy theories"

Golden Finance reports that on April 29, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan rejected former FTX CEO SBF’s request for a retrial and harshly criticized the so-called new evidence he presented as baseless and “highly conspiratorial.” In the court order issued on Tuesday, the judge pointed out that SBF’s claims that FTX was actually solvent, that the Department of Justice concealed information, and that witnesses were afraid to testify due to government threats are completely contradicted by the record. SBF initially accused former FTX Digital Markets co-CEO Ryan Salame and former data science director Daniel Chapsky of not appearing in court out of fear, but the judge emphasized that SBF could have subpoenaed or compelled them to testify, yet took no action.
SBF was convicted on seven counts of fraud by a New York jury in November 2023 and subsequently sentenced to 25 years in prison. Last week, he voluntarily withdrew his new trial motion, claiming he could not obtain a “fair hearing” from Judge Kaplan, but the appeal is still ongoing. The judge also criticized SBF for attempting to influence public opinion through interviews, stating that the so-called new facts had already been raised multiple times. SBF had sought a pardon from Trump, but Trump has also made it clear that he has no such plans.