Judge withdraws from Bankman-Fried case, citing potential conflict of interest

Quick Take

  • District Judge Ronnie Abrams withdrew her participation from legal proceedings around Sam Bankman-Fried amid a potential conflict of interest.
  • Her husband, Greg Andres, is a partner at Davis Polk & Wardwell — an FTX adviser in 2021.

District Judge Ronnie Abrams withdrew her participation from legal proceedings around crypto exchange FTX's disgraced former CEO and founder, Sam Bankman-Fried, amid a potential conflict of interest.

Abrams noted that her husband, Greg Andres, is a partner at Davis Polk & Wardwell — an FTX adviser in 2021. Additionally, the law firm has represented parties that may be opposed to FTX and Bankman-Fried.

"My husband has had no involvement in any of these representations," Abrams wrote in a filing on Friday. "Nonetheless, to avoid any possible conflict, or the appearance of one, the Court hereby recuses itself from this action."

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Bankman-Fried was arrested on Dec. 12 and is accused of committing or conspiring to commit fraud on FTX's customers and lenders, money laundering and conspiracy to defraud the U.S. and violate campaign finance disclosure laws.

Disclaimer: Beginning in 2021, Michael McCaffrey, the former CEO and majority owner of The Block, took a series of loans from founder and former FTX and Alameda CEO Sam Bankman-Fried. McCaffrey resigned from the company in December 2022 after failing to disclose those transactions.


© 2023 The Block. All Rights Reserved. This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.

About Author

Adam is the managing editor for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. He is based in central Europe and was a managing editor and podcast host at the crypto exchange OKX's former research arm, OKX Insights. Before that, he co-founded BeInCrypto.com, which he elevated into one of the leading crypto media brands at its peak as the editor-in-chief. Earlier, he served as the editor-in-chief at Bitcoinist.com. Before joining the blockchain and crypto industry, he worked for Looper.com, Grunge.com and SVG.com. He tweets via @XBT002 and can be emailed at [email protected].

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