Sam Bankman-Fried to return to court for hearing over legal representation
The former crypto CEO was convicted of seven felony counts on Nov. 3 and is scheduled to appear for sentencing in March.
For one of the first times since the conclusion of his first criminal trial, former FTX CEO Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried will appear before a judge to address potential conflicts of interest in his legal team.
In a Feb. 7 filing in United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, Judge Lewis Kaplan ordered Bankman-Fried to appear in person on Feb. 21 for a Curcio hearing over concerns about lawyers Marc Mukasey and Torrey Young. According to the New York-based Blanch Law Firm, during a Curcio hearing, a judge may ask a defendant — in this case, SBF — questions about his legal representation and if he was informed about any potential conflict of interest.
The hearing stemmed from a letter written by U.S. prosecutors on Feb. 6 raising concerns about Mukasey and Young, who filed notices of appearance in both SBF’s and former CEO Alex Mashinsky’s cases. According to prosecutors, Celsius lent money to FTX’s sister company, Alameda Research. Mashinsky partially blamed the firm’s collapse on SBF’s actions — matters that could present a “contrary position” at trial and during either former crypto CEOs’ sentencing.
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