A new judge has been appointed in the criminal case against Sam Bankman-Fried.
The task was handed over to Lewis Kaplan after Judge Ronnie Abrams announced last week that he was withdrawing from the case, Reuters reported.
Kaplan to Take Charge in Sam Bankman-Fried Case
Lewis Kaplan is known as a person who took part in defamation cases against former US President Donald Trump. Abrams announced that his wife withdrew from the lawsuit because she became a partner at Davis Polk & Wardwell, the law firm consulting FTX, in 2021.
Abrams used the following statements in his statement:
“My husband has nothing to do with these events. However, he withdrew from this case to avoid any appearance of conflict.”
SBF was arrested in the Bahamas on December 12 and is charged by US authorities with crimes such as fraud, money laundering, defrauding the US and conspiracy to violate campaign finance laws. SBF, who was extradited to the US last week, was released with $250 million in bail while awaiting trial.