The legal team of Sam Bankman-Fried, a former crypto executive currently under trial for fraud in the US, has declared that he will be making his own case in court.
The timing of this announcement aligns closely with the impending conclusion of the prosecution’s case in the trial.
The 31-year-old has been accused of providing misleading information to investors and lenders, along with misappropriating funds from users of the now-defunct FTX cryptocurrency exchange.
Mr. Bankman-Fried, who refutes the allegations, is anticipated to provide testimony as early as Thursday.If proven guilty, he may face the prospect of a life sentence in prison, representing a substantial and severe punishment.
In the US, defendants have no legal obligation to testify during trials and are commonly advised against doing so to avoid being subject to questioning by prosecutors.
Besides, this tactic permits the jury members, who have the responsibility of deciding the outcome, to create their own impressions, which could be detrimental.
‘If the jury does not believe him, it’s a guaranteed conviction,’ Jacob Frenkel, a former federal prosecutor who has been following the trial told the BBC earlier this month.
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Despite the potential risks involved, a significant number of analysts observing the trial had predicted that the former entrepreneur would take the witness stand to provide his own account and counter the version of events presented by the prosecutors.
‘The prosecutors have put on a pretty strong case,” said Carl Tobias, law professor at the University of Richmond “I don’t know that there’s much downside in this case for him to testify given what we’ve seen so far.’
The case presented by the prosecutors is based on accounts from three of his closest former associates and coworkers, all of whom have already admitted their culpability.
Mr. Bankman-Fried has been linked to decisions involving the utilization of funds deposited at FTX to repay lenders at his crypto trading firm, Alameda Research, purchase property, and make investments and political donations.
It is alleged that he made efforts to conceal the transactions between the two enterprises and their interconnectedness, and legal representatives have fortified their claims with text messages, spreadsheets, and social media updates.
Over the course of the trial, these witnesses, which include his ex-partner and former Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison, have emerged from lengthy interrogation with their credibility appearing largely unaffected.
Mr. Bankman-Fried’s defense team has argued that he was employing “reasonable” business tactics, given the rapid progress of his companies.