Department of Justice Asks FTX Clients to Testify in SBF Trial
Department of Justice is one of the government departments that are supervising the case proceedings against former FTX CEO SBF. On this account, the officials have issued a detailed list of witnesses consisting of former users of the FTX exchange.
The list intends to invite more witnesses to testify against the defendant in the ongoing lawsuit. These changes are inspired by the charges brought by the SEC against the bankrupt auditing company named Prager Metis.
Therefore, the officials at DOJ have decided to issue a witness list against the former CEO of a now-defunct crypto exchange called FTX. The list of the witnesses affected by the case was issued on 30th September and comprises of the former consumers of the firm including other stakeholders involved with the business of the now out of commission firm.
DOJ is collecting list of witnesses hailing from retail and commercial sector who hold considerable assets under at FTX.
Witnesses to Testify Against SBF in Court
According to the DOJ officials, the witnesses will talk about their expectations and understanding of the asset management systems at FTX exchange when it was operational. To this account, the consumers are going to tell the court about their asset reserves held at the former exchange trading platform.
At the same time, they will brief the judge on how the firm intended to execute custodial services for their holdings at the enterprises.
The customers were not aware that the firm was going to transfer their funds to Alameda Research. Furthermore, the consumers were not informed when their holdings were used to cover the expenses carried out by FTX and its sister company.
To facilitate the witnesses in the case, DOJ officials have asked the court to allow remote testimony for one of the consumers in order to deal with the logistic constraints. This customer hailing from war-trodden Ukraine lost a significant portion of their income on FTX exchange.
The list of witnesses is also inclusive of former FTX and Alameda workers who have admitted guilt already.
SEC Brings Charges Against FTX Auditor
The FTX case continues to grow more complicated. The Securities and Exchange Commission has started a lawsuit against a bankrupted FTX auditor named Prager Metis. The prosecution alleges that the auditing firm breached the auditing rules and was involved in aiding and abetting the exchange in violating the federal securities laws.
On this account, the accounting firm has been charged with wrongful indemnification of provisions in the engagement letters at more than 200 audit reports, reviews, and tests.
The firm had been conducting audit for FTX and FTX US in 2021. The auditing process increased the confidence among the consumers of the firm and bring gave the impression of greater credibility for its clients.
Meanwhile, defendants in the case have raised questions about the biased approach of SEC added to the jury questioning sessions. The firm has questioned the federal agency for using improper terms to describe their clients such as fraudster rather than alleged fraudster. SBF’s lawyers claim that these choices can bias the jury’s perception of the suspect.
