US Attorney requests SEC and CFTC civil cases against SBF wait until after criminal trial

Damian Williams, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, has petitioned the tribunal to hold civilian proceedings against erstwhile FTX main enforcement serviceman Sam Bankman-Fried “until the decision of the parallel transgression case”.

In Feb. 7 filings, Williams requested that the tribunal contented an bid staying civilian proceedings arsenic good arsenic find from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Commodity Futures Trading Commission against Bankman-Fried until aft his transgression case, scheduled to spell to proceedings successful October. According to Williams, the transgression lawsuit against Bankman-Fried was “likely to person a important impact” connected the SEC and CFTC civilian cases.

“All of the facts astatine contented successful the Civil Cases are besides astatine contented successful the Criminal Case,” said the filing. “Indeed, arsenic to the strategy to defraud FTX.com customers, the strategy to defraud FTX.com investors, the conspiracy to perpetrate securities fraud by materially misleading FTX.com investors, and the conspiracy to perpetrate commodities fraud by misappropriating FTX.com lawsuit funds intended to beryllium utilized for swaps trading, virtually each of the aforesaid documents, witnesses, and different grounds that would beryllium utilized by the SEC and CFTC to beryllium their claims arising from these schemes would besides beryllium utilized to beryllium the Government’s transgression case.”

U.S. prosecutors inquire to postpone SEC, CFTC cases against Bankman-Fried https://t.co/wxU2nOPxps pic.twitter.com/4RiSODbuZo

— Reuters (@Reuters) February 7, 2023

Regarding staying find proceedings, the U.S. Attorney claimed without intervention, Bankman-Fried had the tools to “improperly get impeachment worldly regarding the Government’s witnesses, circumvent the transgression find rules, and improperly tailor his defence successful the Criminal Case”. The justice overseeing SBF’s transgression lawsuit has already banned the erstwhile FTX CEO from utilizing encrypted messaging apps arsenic a information of his bail aft allegations of contacting witnesses perchance progressive successful the case.

Lawyers for Bankman-Fried said helium did not entity to staying the SEC and CFTC civilian cases until the decision of the transgression case. The ineligible teams for erstwhile Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison and FTX co-founder Gary Wang consented to staying the CFTC lawsuit — the 2 person already settled their civilian cases with the SEC.

Related: FTX fallout: SBF proceedings could acceptable precedent for the crypto industry

Both the SEC and CFTC filed abstracted lawsuits against Bankman-Fried successful December soon aft his apprehension successful the Bahamas. The SEC’s ailment sought injunctions which could forestall SBF from participating successful the issuance, purchase, connection oregon merchantability of immoderate securities but for his idiosyncratic account, portion the CFTC said it was looking for injunctive and different equitable alleviation arsenic good arsenic civilian monetary penalties against the erstwhile CEO, FTX, and Alameda.