Sam Bankman-Fried, the former CEO of FTX could answer for his actions in court according to certain information. Lawyers therefore suggest that he keep a low profile, as all his public statements could be used against him in a possible trial.
Sam Bankman-Fried faces 20+ years in prison
The SEC and the Department of Justice (DOJ) are investigating Bankman-Fried and his Bahamas-based company. Among other things, they examine the decisions of SBF that led to the bankruptcy of FTX. The US regulator suspects possible violations of securities laws. It also appears that SBF used billions of dollars in client money for its trading company Alameda Research.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is also investigating this case. So far, there are no formal charges against SBF and no one has been arrested. But if criminally prosecuted, the former crypto golden boy faces up to 20 years in prison according to Richard Levin, president of law firm Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough. The lawyer spoke about this case in an interview with Forkast.
Lawyers suggest silence
Since the collapse of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried multiplies public statements to try to explain this disaster. Just days after the FTX crash, SBF gave an interview to Vox. Other public statements would also be planned. These interviews could however harm him knowing that his remarks could be used against him. Richard Levin says he would have advised Sam Bankman-Fried to keep a low profile if he had been his lawyer.
It would be safer for him to avoid any public statements related to the failure of FTX and his duties within the exchange. “Every time FTX executives make public comments, they create evidence that could be used against them in any number of ways, whether criminal or civil,” Levin says. Anthony Sabino, a professor at St. John’s University Law School in New York, supports these comments. SBF should let its lawyers speak, he says. He has no interest in making these public statements, quite the contrary.
For now, this is all speculative. But it’s probably only a matter of time before Bankman-Fried is brought to justice for this financial disaster.
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