Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has objected to prosecutors’ request to allow a Ukraine-based FTX customer to testify remotely in his upcoming trial. The prosecutors argued that the customer, referred to as “FTX Customer-1,” cannot travel to the United States due to the ongoing war in Ukraine. However, Bankman-Fried’s defense team stated that they do not consent to the remote testimony in a court filing. The trial, which revolves around fraud charges related to the collapse of the bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange, is scheduled to begin on Tuesday and is expected to last until November.
The customer in question reportedly lost a significant portion of his life savings during the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Due to the country’s war-time law, the customer is legally prohibited from leaving Ukraine. However, prosecutors estimated that even if he obtained a special exemption, the travel time would be around three days each way and involve a complicated route through the ongoing conflict. Despite the prosecutors’ insistence on the importance of international witnesses to understand the global nature of the FTX crypto-exchange, Bankman-Fried’s defense team remains opposed to remote testimony.
Meanwhile, Bankman-Fried himself has been awaiting trial in a New York jail after his bail was revoked over allegations of witness tampering. The trial, now just a few days away, is expected to last until November. Given FTX’s international popularity and its dispersed customer base, coordinating international authorizations and travel arrangements for witnesses has proved to be a complex challenge, according to the prosecutors. Neither the prosecutors nor Bankman-Fried’s media representative offered further comments on the matter.
