TLDR
- Judge Lewis Kaplan denied Sam Bankman-Fried’s motion for a new trial on Tuesday
- Kaplan called the motion “a plan to rescue his reputation” and the claims “baseless”
- SBF argued three former FTX executives could prove the exchange was solvent
- The judge said SBF could have sought their testimony at trial but chose not to
- An appeal of his original conviction and 25-year sentence is still pending
Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder and former CEO of collapsed crypto exchange FTX, has had his request for a new trial rejected by a federal judge.
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
U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan, who presided over the original 2023 trial and sentenced Bankman-Fried to 25 years in prison in early 2024, filed the order Tuesday in the Southern District of New York.
Kaplan was blunt in his assessment. He wrote that the motion appeared to be “one part of a plan to rescue his reputation” that Bankman-Fried had put together after FTX declared bankruptcy but before he was indicted.
In February, Bankman-Fried filed the motion without consulting his lawyers. He also asked for Kaplan to be removed from the case, which the judge denied.
Last week, Bankman-Fried tried to withdraw the motion entirely. He told the judge he didn’t think he would get “a fair hearing” from him. Kaplan denied that request too.
The New Evidence Claims
Bankman-Fried argued that three former FTX executives could have provided testimony showing the exchange was solvent. He named Ryan Salame, former CEO of FTX’s Bahamian arm, and Daniel Chapsky, FTX’s former head of data science.
He also pointed to Nishad Singh, FTX’s former engineering lead, claiming Singh changed his testimony “following threats from the government.”
Kaplan rejected all three arguments. He noted that none of the witnesses were “newly discovered” — Bankman-Fried knew all three before trial and knew what he hoped they would say.
“He could have obtained or at least sought to compel their testimony,” Kaplan wrote. “But he did neither.”
The judge called the claim that the government threatened witnesses “wildly conspiratorial and entirely contradicted by the record.”
Background on the Case
Salame pleaded guilty to violating campaign finance laws and operating an illegal money-transmitting business. He was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison in May 2024.
Singh cut a plea deal with prosecutors to avoid jail time and testified against Bankman-Fried at the original trial.
Bankman-Fried was convicted in November 2023 on all seven counts of fraud and money laundering. Prosecutors described the case as “likely the largest fraud in the last decade,” drawing comparisons to Bernie Madoff.
The jury found he illegally moved billions of dollars of FTX customer funds to his trading firm Alameda Research to make risky trades, which contributed to FTX’s collapse.
Kaplan also took aim at Bankman-Fried’s media campaign, citing interviews with author Michael Lewis and commentator Tucker Carlson. He said the so-called new facts “have been seen before. Many times.”
Bankman-Fried has sought a pardon from President Donald Trump. Trump has said he has no plans to grant one.
Bankman-Fried is currently held at a federal prison in Lompoc, California. An appeal of his conviction and sentence remains pending.
