SBF Wants To Pay Expert Witnesses $1,200 Per Hour
TL; DR
Bankman-Fried is willing to pay expert witnesses up to $1,200 per hour.
The federal prosecutors plan to bar SBF specialist witnesses.
SFB legal defense has said that the continued increase in state evidence documents against Bankman-Fried is likely to impede a fair trial against him.
Introduction
The case of Sam Bankman-Fried, charged with misappropriation of FTX customer funds, is set to resume anytime between October and March 2024. This follows a possibility of the postponement of the trial from October to March 2024. According to Judge Kaplan, Bankman-Fried (SBF) has the right to seek a postponement of his trial to next year, should the need exists.
In the meantime, SBF has requested to introduce several experts as his witnesses. This article will discuss the reason for SBF to hire some experts as witnesses. We will also look at why some prosecutors may bar SBF’s witnesses.
Sam Bankman-Fried to Hire Expert as Witnesses
Sam Bankman-Fried, the embattled FTX founder, is seeking to use experts as witnesses when his trial resumes. The complexity of the case, which has various allegations including poor international corporate governance and misappropriation of FTX customer funds, has forced Bankman-Fried to hire experts to testify on his behalf.
The eight specialists whom Bankman-Fried wish to engage as his key witnesses include an English barrister and a director at an electronic consulting firm. According to the information contained in a letter filed in federal court in Manhattan the witness will testify on different key aspects that include FTX campaign finance law, the valuations of FTX and Alameda Research as well as the exchange’s terms of service and software infrastructure.
Brian Kim, Joseph Pimbley, Lawrence Akka, Thomas Bishop, Peter Vinella, Andrew Di Wu and Bradley Smith are some of Bankman-Fried’s proposed expert witnesses.
According to a Bloomberg Law report, Bankman-Fried is willing to pay each specialist witness up to $1,200 per hour. However, they are not all going to have a flat fee. For example, Bradley Smith, the former Federal Election Commission Chairperson, wants $1,200 per hour to testify on issues related to the United States’ straw donors and campaign finance laws.
According to Smith the amount is a payment for his time and effort since he has no interest in the outcome of the case. He said, “I have no financial interest in the outcome of this case. I am being compensated for my time and services on an hourly basis at the billing rate of $1,200 per hour.”
The hourly rates for the other witnesses are $1,175; 800 British pounds ($1,000); $720; $400 and $650. It is vital to note that Bankman-Fried, who is denying charges levelled against him, has not pleaded guilty to any of the charges which include using FTX exchange customer funds for investing in Alameda Research, purchasing lavish real estate and donating funds to politicians.
Bankman-Fried is embroiled in a legal case against the SEC following the FTX collapse that occurred in November 2022. After the FTX crash SBF has faced several charges including money laundering, wire fraud as well as commodities and securities frauds. Apart from the SEC’s lawsuit FTX sues SBF for similar charges in a bid to recover some stolen funds.
Prosecutors Likely to Bar Expert Witnesses
According to a source, the United States’ Department of Justice prosecutors are planning to bar Bankman-Fried’s expert witnesses. They have argued that SBF wishes to hire the experts to support his claim of innocence.
Basically, their point of view is that the expert witnesses will “invade the purview of the Court and the jury” and “serve no other purpose than to provide an expert patina to inadmissible hearsay testimony.” By preventing SBF expert witnesses the court is exercising its gatekeeping role.
In the case of Lawrence Akka, an English barrister, the prosecutors argue that he is conversant with English case law which serves little purpose for SBF defense. In reality, the prosecutors queried the relevance of each of the proposed expert witnesses.
In the meantime, SBF defense lawyers filed court papers on 1 September opposing several motions which the federal prosecutors filed. For instance, the Defense team argued against raising evidence for charges that were previously severed or dropped from the case such as the violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act where SBF was accused of trying to bribe officials in the Bahamas.
The defense team for the former FTX CEO argued that the government has not provided Bankman-Fried with the required reliable internet access needed to prepare the case and discuss with his defense counsel. Based on this complaint the court said that SBF can apply for a postponement of the case so he has enough time to make preparations.
In this regard, Judge Kaplan said, “If the defendant feels he needs a postponement, they can ask for it. I’m not saying I would necessarily grant it. They’d have to demonstrate a need - not just recount the number of documents.”
The other legal complaint the SBF’s defense team has raised is that the federal prosecutors are sharing millions of pages containing new information which SBF in prison may not have the resources to read and understand.
The team said, “The Government emailed the defense a cover letter stating that it would be producing approximately 3.7 million pages of discovery from various sources. That is in addition to the roughly 4 million pages of discovery that we received from the Government on Thursday, August 24.”
It added, “This is just one more example of the Government violating the discovery schedule that it promised the Court it would follow. As set forth in our letter of August 25, 2023, the Government should not be permitted to dump huge volumes of discovery this close to trial, especially when Mr Bankman-Fried has no practical ability to review them given the conditions of his confinement.”
The key argument is that giving SBF in prison such a significant amount of additional evidence is likely to impede a fair trial.
Notable Recent SBF Developments in Recent Times
As said, tension has been rising between FTX lawsuit defense team and the federal prosecutors over several issues which include SBF’s hiring of new expert witnesses. What is making the matter worse is the fact that SBF is currently in prison after he flouted his bail conditions.
The federal prosecutors revoked Bankman-Fried’s bail because he tampered with the state witnesses which include his former girlfriend Caroline Ellison. Reportedly, Bankman-Fried leaked “Ellison’s private journals to the New York Times.” As such, the federal prosecutors interpreted Bankman-Fried’s action as a means of intimidating Ellison, a key state witness against him.
Conclusion
One of the latest developments in former FTX CEO’s, Bankman-Fried, trial is SBF’s hiring of expert witnesses for future court sessions. Recent sources said that Bankman-Fried is willing to pay these witnesses up to $1,200 per hour. On the other hand, the federal prosecutors are fighting against Bankman-Fried’s proposed specialist witnesses.
