TLDR
- Federal Judge Lewis Kaplan rejected Sam Bankman-Fried’s request for a retrial this Tuesday
- The judge described the motion as part of “a plan to rescue his reputation” with “baseless” claims
- Bankman-Fried claimed three ex-FTX executives could demonstrate the platform’s solvency
- Kaplan noted SBF had the opportunity to call these witnesses during the original trial but didn’t
- His appeal against the conviction and 25-year prison term remains under review
The disgraced founder of the defunct cryptocurrency platform FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, has seen his bid for a retrial firmly rejected by a federal court.
A federal judge rejected FTX co-founder Sam Bankman-Fried’s do-it-yourself motion for a new trial based on what the former crypto king claimed was new evidence https://t.co/Yke9vgqa37
— Bloomberg (@business) April 28, 2026
The ruling came Tuesday from U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, the same judge who oversaw Bankman-Fried’s 2023 criminal trial and handed down a 25-year prison sentence in early 2024. The order was filed in New York’s Southern District Court.
Judge Kaplan didn’t mince words in his decision. He characterized the motion as appearing to be “one part of a plan to rescue his reputation” that Bankman-Fried had orchestrated following FTX’s bankruptcy filing but prior to criminal charges being brought against him.
Back in February, Bankman-Fried submitted the motion independently, bypassing his legal team. He simultaneously requested that Kaplan recuse himself from the proceedings, a request the judge swiftly denied.
More recently, Bankman-Fried attempted to pull the motion altogether. His reasoning? He expressed doubt about receiving “a fair hearing” from Judge Kaplan. That withdrawal request was also turned down.
Claims About Fresh Evidence
The central thrust of Bankman-Fried’s argument revolved around three former FTX executives who he claimed could offer testimony proving the exchange remained financially viable. He specifically identified Ryan Salame, who previously led FTX’s Bahamas operations, and Daniel Chapsky, the exchange’s former data science chief.
Additionally, he referenced Nishad Singh, FTX’s one-time head of engineering, alleging that Singh had modified his testimony “following threats from the government.”
Judge Kaplan systematically dismantled each argument. He emphasized that these weren’t “newly discovered” witnesses whatsoever — Bankman-Fried had been acquainted with all three individuals well before trial and understood what testimony he expected from them.
“He could have obtained or at least sought to compel their testimony,” Judge Kaplan stated in his ruling. “But he did neither.”
Regarding allegations of government witness intimidation, the judge characterized the claim as “wildly conspiratorial and entirely contradicted by the record.”
Case History and Context
Ryan Salame entered a guilty plea to charges including campaign finance violations and running an unlicensed money transmission operation. In May 2024, he received a seven-and-a-half-year prison sentence.
Nishad Singh negotiated a cooperation agreement with federal prosecutors that kept him out of prison in exchange for testifying against Bankman-Fried during the original proceedings.
In November 2023, a jury found Bankman-Fried guilty on every charge — seven total counts encompassing fraud and money laundering. Federal prosecutors characterized it as “likely the largest fraud in the last decade,” drawing parallels to the Bernie Madoff scandal.
The conviction stemmed from evidence showing he illegally transferred billions in FTX customer deposits to Alameda Research, his proprietary trading company, where the funds were used for high-risk speculative investments that ultimately led to FTX’s implosion.
Judge Kaplan also criticized Bankman-Fried’s public relations efforts, pointing to his interviews with writer Michael Lewis and media personality Tucker Carlson. The judge noted that these purportedly new revelations “have been seen before. Many times.”
Bankman-Fried has attempted to secure a presidential pardon from Donald Trump. However, the former president has publicly stated he has no intention of granting clemency.
Currently, Bankman-Fried is incarcerated at a federal correctional facility in Lompoc, California. His formal appeal challenging both the conviction and sentencing is still working its way through the courts.
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