Sam Bankman-Fried still hasn’t had his prescribed dose of Adderall – affecting the disgraced crypto magnate’s ability to focus as he weighs the crucial decision of whether to testify at his criminal fraud trial, his lawyer claims.
The 31-year-old former billionaire took a dose of stimulants early in the morning before court officials drove him from Brooklyn’s Metropolitan Detention Center to a Manhattan federal courthouse where he is on trial on charges of stealing more than $8 billion from clients. its cryptocurrency exchange FTX.
But the Adderall was gone when the trial began at 9:30 a.m., his attorney said — allegedly preventing the former crypto golden boy from focusing properly as the decision loomed over whether he would take the stand.
“The defense is getting worried because Mr. Bankman-Fried lacked access to Adderall, he was unable to concentrate at the level he used to and that he would not be able to participate meaningfully in the defense presentation. case,” Bankman-Fried attorney Mark Cohen wrote to the court in a filing late Sunday.
Prosecutors, who have called Bankman-Fried’s ex-lover and business partner Caroline Ellison and other former FTX insiders as witnesses, are expected to wrap up their case in the next week or two.
Bankman-Fried’s Adderall dosage has been tapering off as her trial begins each morning at 9:30 a.m., her attorney claims.AP
Bankman-Fried will then have to decide whether to testify as a defense witness – which will also open up an opportunity for prosecutors to grill her on cross-examination.
Attorneys for the accused fraudster have proposed a potential solution to the Adderall issue: have prison officials give Bankman-Fried a 20-milligram “extended-release” 12-hour dose in the morning.
But they wrote Sunday that it was “unclear” whether the jail would provide Bankman-Fried with a timely dose.
Bankman-Fried’s ex-girlfriend Caroline Ellison was among several former FTX insiders to testify against him.REUTERS
Emails and phone calls to the assistant attorney general of the US Bureau of Prisons went unanswered, the lawyer said.
Lawyers have also asked Manhattan federal court Judge Lewis Kaplan to issue an order allowing his own lawyers to give Bankman-Fried Adderall in court during the trial.
The judge is expected to consider the request at some point on Monday.
Bankman-Fried’s attorney has suggested giving her an “extended-release” dose of Adderall so she can focus.Getty Images
Meanwhile, the prosecutor on Monday morning summoned the former chief engineer of FTX, Nashad Singh to court.
Singh, who testified in cooperation with the government, ripped Bankman-Fried for “excessive” spending while he led FTX and its related crypto hedge fund, Alameda Research — including spending more than $1 billion on endorsement deals with celebrities like Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen and on the naming rights to the NBA’s Miami Heat basketball arena.
“It all reeked of excess and brilliance,” Singh testified. “It didn’t align with what I thought we were building the company for.”
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
