Sam Bankman-Fried, who has long denied stealing from customers of his cryptocurrency exchange FTX, on Monday asked a US judge to throw out criminal charges against him over the platform's collapse.
In a filing in Manhattan federal court, Mr Bankman-Fried's lawyers said many cryptocurrency exchanges collapsed during a broad market crash in 2022, and that prosecutors hastily charged their client in a “rush to judgment”.
“Rather than wait for traditional civil and regulatory processes following their ordinary course to address the situation, the government jumped in with both feet, improperly seeking to turn these civil and regulatory issues into federal crimes,” his lawyers wrote.
Mr Bankman-Fried, 31, a former billionaire, has largely been confined to his parents' home since his December arrest in the Bahamas, where he had lived and where FTX was based.
He was extradited to the US about a week after his arrest.
FTX imploded after a flurry of customer withdrawals triggered by reports that it had commingled assets with Alameda Research, Mr Bankman-Fried's cryptocurrency-focused hedge fund.
Federal prosecutors in Manhattan said Mr Bankman-Fried stole billions of dollars in FTX customer funds to plug losses at Alameda, buy property and make political contributions through an illegal straw-donor scheme.
They have also charged him with bribing Chinese officials.
In court papers on Monday, Mr Bankman-Fried's lawyers said the campaign finance charge should be dismissed because it was not included on the surrender warrant signed by the Foreign Minister of the Bahamas before their client's extradition.
They also said other charges, including the bribery accusation, were improperly brought after he was extradited.
Under an extradition treaty between the US and the Bahamas, Mr Bankman-Fried may only be tried and punished for charges he faced at the time of his extradition, unless the Bahamas government consents to the new charges.
Prosecutors have until May 29 to respond to Mr Bankman-Fried's dismissal request, and US district judge Lewis Kaplan will hear arguments on June 15.
Mr Bankman-Fried rode a boom in Bitcoin and other digital assets to an estimated net worth of $26.5 billion, according to Forbes magazine.
He became an influential donor to US political and philanthropic causes until his fortune largely evaporated when FTX collapsed in November.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology graduate has pleaded not guilty to 13 counts of fraud and conspiracy.
He has acknowledged that FTX had inadequate risk management but denies stealing funds, and has sought to distance himself from the cryptocurrency exchange's day-to-day operations.
Three one-time close associates — former Alameda co-chief executive Caroline Ellison, former FTX technology chief Gary Wang and former FTX engineering chief Nishad Singh — have all pleaded guilty and agreed to co-operate with prosecutors.
In pleading guilty, Mr Singh admitted to making political donations in his own name that were funded in part by transfers from Alameda.
However, Mr Bankman-Fried's lawyers said on Monday that the donations made by Mr Singh, referred to as CC-1 in prosecutors' charging documents against their client, did not actually breach election laws.
“The campaign finance allegations reveal, yet again, the consequences of the government's rush to indict Mr Bankman-Fried,” his lawyers wrote.
Mr Bankman-Fried's trial is set for October 2.
His parents, who live in Palo Alto, California, are Stanford University law professors and co-signed his $250 million bond.
Mr Bankman-Fried has limited access to technology, after prosecutors warned he might tamper with witnesses.
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Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
One in nine do not have enough to eat
Created in 1961, the World Food Programme is pledged to fight hunger worldwide as well as providing emergency food assistance in a crisis.
One of the organisation’s goals is the Zero Hunger Pledge, adopted by the international community in 2015 as one of the 17 Sustainable Goals for Sustainable Development, to end world hunger by 2030.
The WFP, a branch of the United Nations, is funded by voluntary donations from governments, businesses and private donations.
Almost two thirds of its operations currently take place in conflict zones, where it is calculated that people are more than three times likely to suffer from malnutrition than in peaceful countries.
It is currently estimated that one in nine people globally do not have enough to eat.
On any one day, the WFP estimates that it has 5,000 lorries, 20 ships and 70 aircraft on the move.
Outside emergencies, the WFP provides school meals to up to 25 million children in 63 countries, while working with communities to improve nutrition. Where possible, it buys supplies from developing countries to cut down transport cost and boost local economies.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
PSA DUBAI WORLD SERIES FINALS LINE-UP
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Mohamed El Shorbagy (EGY)
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Gregory Gaultier (FRA)
Karim Abdel Gawad (EGY)
Nick Matthew (ENG)
Women's:
Nour El Sherbini (EGY)
Raneem El Welily (EGY)
Nour El Tayeb (EGY)
Laura Massaro (ENG)
Joelle King (NZE)
Camille Serme (FRA)
Nouran Gohar (EGY)
Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG)
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