Ex-FTX Chief’s Defense Team Challenges FBI Interviews, Raises Questions About Witness Credibility

On Wednesday, the defense team for the former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried issued a letter to the judge seeking to question two FBI agents who interviewed Gary Wang, former chief technology officer of FTX, and Nishad Singh, former director of engineering at FTX. Lawyers allege the witnesses provided “inconsistent statements” that don’t match their original interviews with the agents.

Former FTX Executives’ Testimonies Under Scrutiny in Ongoing Bankman-Fried Trial

Lawyers for Sam Bankman-Fried are interested in the “elicited testimony” gathered by two FBI agents who interviewed Gary Wang and Nishad Singh. The letter says Wang was questioned on October 6, and they asked him about specific statements he gave to the special agents on November 17, 2022, and December 7, 2022.

“Mr. Bankman-Fried’s counsel specifically asked Mr. Wang whether [a] reference to notes that the FBI Agents had prepared on Form 302 refreshed his recollection of his statements to the FBI Agents at those interviews,” the letter details. “On each of these occasions, Mr. Wang denied having made or claimed not to recall having made the statements recorded in the Form 302.”

The attorneys also delved into the reported special code privileges called “allow negative” that benefited Alameda, and Wang may have been “pressured or incentivized” to provide prosecutors with an “innocent explanation.” Bankman-Fried’s lawyers also noted similar instances when they cross-examined Nishad Singh on October 17, 2023. Singh was interviewed by the U.S. government on January 4, 2023, and January 19, 2023.

Again with Singh, the lawyers said they tried to refresh his recollection of the testimony, but he wasn’t able to remember everything he said during the interviews. The witnesses’ “inability to recall” these types of statements goes against the credibility of their testimony, the lawyers stressed. Bankman-Fried’s attorney, Mark Cohen, disclosed Wednesday that his client would testify in his trial. The testimony was set for Thursday, but the latest letter from the defense team could disrupt that plan.

Attorneys are calling for the testimony of FBI agents regarding their initial interviews with Singh and Wang. While pleading not guilty to all charges leveled against him, Bankman-Fried maintains his innocence.

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