(New York) Former cryptocurrency figure Sam Bankman-Fried plans to testify at his trial, a source close to the case confirmed to AFP on Wednesday, a relatively rare initiative in criminal proceedings in the United States.
“SBF” is accused of having organized the illegal use of funds deposited on its cryptocurrency exchange platform FTX without the knowledge of clients.
Up to $14 billion was siphoned off to fund the often risky investments of his investment company Alameda Research. Some 8 billion were missing when FTX filed for bankruptcy in November 2022.
Since the bankruptcy of FTX, and until his trial, the accused has always denied having broken the law. He claims to have been the victim of poor choices of executives to whom he had delegated operational functions.
But since the opening of the debates three weeks ago, three key witnesses, formerly of FTX or Alameda, have undermined this version.
They assured, supported by internal documents collected by the prosecution, that the former little genius of cryptocurrencies was indeed at the origin of the offenses and never lost sight of the financial situation of FTX and Alameda.
The cross-examination of these witnesses by “SBF” lawyers did not highlight any flaws in the story of these former collaborators.
His defense weakened, Sam Bankman-Fried therefore intends to testify, thus showing his last card to redress the situation. He faces up to 110 years in prison if convicted.
The prosecution told federal Judge Lewis Kaplan that it could conclude its presentation of witnesses on Thursday. She will then hand over to the defense, who will be free to produce the witness(es) of their choice.
Defendants tried in criminal trials in the United States often choose not to testify, to avoid incriminating themselves, especially during cross-examination by the prosecution.
Recently, Harvey Weinstein, Bill Cosby, the singer R. Kelly, Ghislaine Maxwell (Jeffrey Epstein affair), Derek Chauvin (convicted of the murder of George Floyd) or the drug trafficker Joaquin Guzman, known as “El Chapo”, have all preferred not to speak in court.
A Cornell University Law School study published in 2009 indicated that 77 percent of defendants who chose to testify were convicted, compared to only 72 percent of those who opted to remain silent.