Sam Bankman-Fried Asks Supreme Court to Overturn FTX Fraud Conviction
Sam Bankman-Fried has petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn his 25-year fraud conviction from the FTX collapse. His lawyers argue the trial judge wrongly barred evidence that no FTX customer ultimately suffered a loss because assets were sufficient to repay customers, and they say the $11 billion forfeiture is an excessive fine under the Eighth Amendment. Prosecutors counter that the fraud involved misappropriating billions from customers, investors, and Alameda lenders, and that later repayment through bankruptcy does not erase the crime. The Supreme Court accepts only a small fraction of cases, so review is unlikely. Bankman-Fried is also seeking clemency from Donald Trump, but that path appears blocked: Trump said he would not consider a pardon, and the Senate unanimously opposed clemency. His conviction was upheld by the Second Circuit in June, and he has continued to maintain his innocence.
