- Sam Bankman-Fried will attend a court hearing today.
- It will be SBF’s first court appearance since conviction in November.
- SBF will make an important decision regarding his future legal representation.
Disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF) is due in court on Wednesday to attend a hearing over his lawyer’s possible conflict of interest.
The fallen crypto mogul was convicted in November on seven counts following a unanimous “guilty verdict” by a 12-member jury. Today’s hearing will mark SBF’s first court appearance since the conviction as he awaits final sentencing on March 28.
Sam Bankman-Fried Due in Manhattan Court
According to a Reuters report on February 21, Sam Bankman-Fried will appear at a Manhattan hearing on Wednesday to decide whether he would waive his right to raise objections to the possible conflict of interest arising from his lawyer Marc Mukasey, representing former Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky.
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SBF hired Mukasey in January to represent him during sentencing and a likely appeal. Mukasey is the same defense attorney representing Mashinsky on charges of allegedly inflating the price of Celsius’s crypto token and earning $42M from selling his tokens.
Prosecutors in SBF’s case argued that this may raise a conflict of interest given that Bankman-Fried’s Alameda Research used stolen funds from FTX to repay Celsius. Per the prosecutors, if SBF wishes to argue that Celsius and similar creditors were not defrauded and are not entitled to restitution, Mashinsky may take the opposite position.
Based on this argument, the prosecutors advised that SBF should be allowed to proceed with Mukasey if he understood the possible conflict of interest.
U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan will ask SBF at the Wednesday hearing whether he would waive his right to raise objections regarding Mukasey’s representation as Mashinsky did in a Tuesday hearing.
During the Tuesday hearing, Mukasey said his law firm could “fairly represent” both SBF and Mashinsky.
Read why FTX ditched exchange revival plans:
FTX Abandons Crypto Exchange Revival for User Payouts
Stay updated on the FTX lawsuit against SBF’s parents:
SBF’s Parents File Motion to Dismiss FTX Clawback Lawsuit
