Sam Bankman-Fried opposes Ukraine FTX sufferer testifying remotely

Sam Bankman-Fried doesn’t approve of prosecutors’ request to permit a Ukraine-based FTX buyer to testify remotely within the prison trial, which is ready to begin on Tuesday.

In a courtroom submitting Saturday, prosecutors requested Choose Lewis Kaplan for permission to incorporate witness testimony through two-way video teleconference, although Bankman-Fried’s protection mentioned it “doesn’t consent” to it.

The FTX buyer in query, who prosecutors discuss with as “FTX Buyer-1” within the submitting, is “a younger male, positioned in Ukraine … who misplaced a considerable portion of his life financial savings that he had entrusted to FTX when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.”

FTX Buyer-1 can not journey out of Ukraine as a result of nation’s war-time legislation, which prohibits males deemed match for fight from leaving.

He might attempt to acquire a particular exemption from Ukraine officers to exit the nation, however even then, prosecutors estimated the journey time for the FTX buyer could be round three days in every course and would require a sophisticated route via an ongoing warfare.

A spokesperson for the prosecutors declined to remark. Bankman-Fried’s media consultant additionally declined to remark.

The federal prosecutors maintained that testimony from worldwide witnesses is necessary to understanding the worldwide nature and affect of the FTX crypto-exchange.

“Attributable to FTX’s worldwide recognition, lots of the FTX clients are dispersed the world over, making the coordination of worldwide authorizations to allow testimony in the USA and worldwide journey preparations exceedingly difficult,” prosecutors mentioned within the courtroom doc.

Bankman-Fried has been awaiting his trial, which is because of start in just some days, in a New York jail after a choose revoked his bail over alleged witness tampering. In line with a courtroom calendar, the trial will final till Nov. 9.