Judge rejects Sam Bankman-Fried’s new trial request, slams claims as ‘wildly conspiratorial’

U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan declined former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried’s request for a new trial after the former mogul brought forth new evidence that he said showed that the now bankrupt crypto exchange was solvent. 

In an order filed on Tuesday in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Judge Kaplan, whom Bankman-Fried himself had asked to be recused, criticized his new evidence, calling it “baseless.”

Last week, Bankman-Fried withdrew that motion for a new trial and said that he didn’t think he would get a “fair hearing” from Judge Kaplan. An appeal is still pending. 

In his original motion for a new trial filed in February, Bankman-Fried accused the Justice Department of withholding information while also including what he said would have been testimony from the FTX Digital Markets co-CEO Ryan Salame and the former head of data science at FTX, Daniel Chapsky. Both said they were scared to testify, according to Bankman-Fried.

Salame was sentenced in 2024 to 90 months in prison after pleading guilty to criminal charges. 

However, Judge Kaplan countered on Tuesday.

“He could have obtained or at least sought to compel their testimony,” he said in the order. “But he did neither. His assertion that their absence (or, in one case, the decision of the witness to testify against him) was a product of government threats and retaliation is wildly conspiratorial and entirely contradicted by the record.”

​​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 has said he has no plans to do so.

Judge Kaplan also criticized Bankman-Fried’s approach to garner public support on what he called new evidence, citing his interviews with author Michael Lewis and conservative political commentator Tucker Carlson. 

“A fatal flaw of that spin (and the present motion) is that Bankman-Fried’s so-called ‘facts’ have been seen before,” Judge Kaplan said. “Many times.”

© 2026 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.