- The former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried is trying to dismiss 10 out of 13 criminal charges against him.
- His lawyers said lawmakers had brought the indictment against him in a "classic rush to judgment."
The fallen FTX cofounder Sam Bankman-Fried has asked a US judge to dismiss 10 out of 13 criminal charges against him over the crypto exchange's collapse.
Bankman-Fried's lawyers wrote in a Monday filing to the Manhattan federal court that the US government had brought the original indictment against him on December 9 in a "classic rush to judgment" less than a month after FTX's bankruptcy.
"Rather than wait for traditional civil and regulatory processes following their ordinary course to address the situation, the government jumped in with both feet, improperly seeking to turn these civil and regulatory issues into federal crimes," his lawyers wrote.
Bankman-Fried's lawyers said that a campaign-finance charge must be discharged because it wasn't included in the surrender warrant signed by the Bahamian government for his extradition.
The US government also added new charges against Bankman-Fried that "alleged criminal conduct far beyond the Original Indictment and which are improperly brought," his lawyers added. "Even if they are considered, the charges should be dismissed as legally flawed," they said.
Other charges they are applying to discharge include those related to bank fraud, unlicensed money transmitting, and bribery.
Bankman-Fried's lawyers added that the broad market rout in 2022 had also hit many other cryptocurrency exchanges.
"The market crash took down many of the major players in this sector, not just FTX," they said in their filing.
In January, Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty in the US government's criminal case against him over FTX's collapse. The former FTX CEO was set for an October 2 trial.
A spokesperson for Bankman-Fried declined to comment.
May 9, 2023, 12.20 a.m. ET: This story has been updated to include details from Bankman-Fried's court filing.