Prosecutors say Sam Bankman Fried planes risk seizure Cryptocurrency scrgruppen

Two Sam Bankman Fried (SBF) luxury jets, valued at millions of dollars, are now subject to seizure, according to the British newspaper “Daily Mail”. Deposit From the US Department of Justice (DOJ) on October 4.

The document says the possibility of confiscation comes as a result of “the crimes described in Counts One to Four and Seven of Indictment No. 22 S. 673 (LAK)” which were brought against SBF.

Among the aircraft listed are a Bombardier Global and an Embraer Legacy. These two planes are currently at the center of an ownership crisis between the government, SBF’s former FTX cryptocurrency exchange, and the airline that operates the planes, Island Air Capital (IAC), according to documents filed on September 21 in a Delaware bankruptcy court.

The government argued in arguments that both planes risked seizure because they were purchased with fraudulent funds, while FTX says the loans used to purchase the planes were not documented.

In December 2022, the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed a lawsuit against SBF, FTX, and Alameda Research, accusing the latter parties of violating the Commodity Exchange Act. The charges against SBF from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) included “using FTX client funds for a variety of personal expenses” – one of those expenses was private jets.

Related: These 12 people will decide the fate of Sam Bankman-Fried

The filing comes as Bankman-Fried is currently on trial on criminal and fraud charges related to FTX’s downfall in November 2022. SBF has pleaded not guilty to all charges and is being heard by Judge Lewis Kaplan.

The trial began on October 3 with jury selection and opening arguments from both the prosecution and defense were heard the next day, October 4.

The Justice Department’s opening position portrayed Bankman Fried as deliberately deceiving clients and investors to get rich and expand his operations, while the defense defended SBF as merely a young entrepreneur whose “business plans did not pan out.”

The trial continues its proceedings on October 5. Cointelegraph is on the ground in New York with the latest updates on the trial. Follow live updates here.

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