The founder of the hammered cryptocurrency exchange FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), seeks to dismiss up to 10 criminal charges against him just several months ahead of the scheduled criminal trial in October.

SBF’s legal team is pushing to dismiss all charges against the infamous FTX chief as it filed court documents filed in the Southern District Court in New York on May 8, but is not contesting three charges:

- Conspiracy to commit commodities fraud

- Conspiracy to commit securities fraud

- Conspiracy to commit money laundering

To shed light on the matter at hand, crypto researcher Molly White suggested on Twitter that “at least part of it seems to come down to the fact that additional charges were added after SBF's extradition agreement was made.”

The lawyers of Sam Bankman-Fried are urging the court to dismiss offences which he has not been extradited for, arguing in the name of the “rule of specialty”:

“During the extradition proceedings in The Bahamas, it was the understanding of all parties in court, coram judice¸ and the Court itself, that the specialty provisions applied notwithstanding the use of the simplified procedure. There was no waiver of the rule of specialty. To the contrary, there was an express acknowledgment that it applied.”

Sources:

https://cointelegraph.com/news/ftx-founder-sam-bankman-fried-urges-court-to-dismiss-charges

https://www.axios.com/2023/05/09/ftx-founder-sam-bankman-fried-dismiss-most-charges-filing

https://twitter.com/molly0xFFF/status/1655751738568196096