Sam Bankman-Fried hires defense attorney as US authorities probe FTX: Report

Former FTX main enforcement serviceman Sam Bankman-Fried has reportedly hired Mark Cohen, a erstwhile national prosecutor, to enactment arsenic his defence attorney.

According to a Dec. 6 study from Reuters, Bankman-Fried's spokesperson Mark Botnick said the erstwhile FTX CEO has retained Cohen amid a flurry of civilian litigation from investors successful the crypto speech and investigations by lawmakers and regulators successful the United States. Cohen, a co-founder of instrumentality steadfast Cohen & Gresser, was a erstwhile adjunct U.S. lawyer for the Eastern District of New York who besides connected the defence squad for the high-profile lawsuit involving Ghislaine Maxwell — sentenced to 20 years successful situation for kid enactment trafficking and related charges.

Lawmakers with the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives person announced abstracted hearings to analyse the illness of FTX and the imaginable interaction connected investors and accepted markets. Leadership with the House Financial Services Committee has called connected Bankman-Fried to talk astatine a proceeding connected FTX connected Dec. 13, but the erstwhile CEO suggested helium would lone attest aft “learning and reviewing what happened.” It’s unclear whether helium would talk successful idiosyncratic oregon remotely from the Bahamas.

FTX Group filed for bankruptcy nether Chapter 11 successful the District of Delaware connected Nov. 11, pursuing a reported “liquidity crunch” successful which the steadfast claimed billions successful leverage making it incapable to conscionable idiosyncratic withdrawal demands. Filings successful bankruptcy tribunal suggested FTX could beryllium accountable to much than 1 cardinal creditors. 

Related: Texas enforcers privation Sam Bankman-Fried to be the proceeding successful February

Bankman-Fried has made appearances connected respective media outlets and spoken to reporters galore times pursuing FTX’s collapse, contempt disapproval from galore successful the crypto space. The erstwhile FTX CEO has repeatedly apologized for his role successful the exchange’s downfall and said helium planned to “make it up” to affected squad members, but did not connection a factual program to marque investors whole. John Ray became the exchange’s CEO successful November.