Jailed FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried files a motion seeking a new trial

Jailed former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried is seeking a new trial after being found guilty on multiple fraud charges following the collapse of his cryptocurrency exchange.

In a court document filed on Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the former exec's mother filed a "pro se motion for a new trial" on behalf of her son. In an attached memo submitted by Bankman-Fried, he said he accused the Department of Justice of withholding information and asked that the previous judge, Judge Lewis Kaplan, be recused.

"Sam Bankman-Fried was indicted on the false allegation that he had stolen customer assets from the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, leaving customers with billions of dollars in losses," according to the new filing. "Since the trial, multiple people have spoken out about how a weaponized DOJ pressured them into withdrawing as witnesses for Bankman-Fried's defense …"

Bankman-Fried previously filed an appeal in November, asking for a new trial. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit has not taken that up so far, according to court filings.

​​Bankman-Fried was found guilty in November 2023 by a jury in New York of all seven criminal counts of defrauding the customers, lenders, and investors of FTX. Prosecutors say Bankman-Fried orchestrated "likely the largest fraud in the last decade," making comparisons to Ponzi scheme mastermind Bernie Madoff. Hedge fund Alameda Research was instrumental to FTX, both of which were founded by Bankman-Fried. He was later sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Bankman-Fried has sought a pardon from President Donald Trump, though the president said last month he has no plans to do so.

'FTX always had sufficient assets'

Bankman-Fried has consistently argued that FTX remained solvent. 

"FTX always had sufficient assets to repay customer deposits in full," he said in the filing. "What it faced was a short-term liquidity crisis caused by a run on the exchange, not insolvency."

The Tuesday filing also included what would have been testimony from co-CEO of FTX Digital Markets, Ryan Salame, and the former head of data science at FTX, Daniel Chapsky. Both said they were scared to testify, according to Bankman-Fried. 

If he did testify, Bankman-Fried said Chapsky would have testified that claims that customers had lost billions of dollars that were "unrepayable" were false, among other assertions. 

If Salame testified, he would have pushed back on several claims, including one about prosecutors' stance that Bankman-Fried "jetted around the world on private planes," and instead would have said that the former exec "hated flying private," according to the filing.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Over the past day, Bankman-Fried has posted multiple times on X, through a proxy, about his case, drawing comparisons between himself, Salame, former president of Honduras Juan Orlando Hernandez and President Donald Trump. 

"Biden's lawfare machine tried to silence the truth," Bankman-Fried said. "Because the truth is that they were playing politics, not justice. "Same story with @realDonaldTrump; with @rsalame7926; with me; with @JuanOrlandoH; and with so many others."

Updated at 6:30 p.m. UTC to include more details