Former FTX CEO and founder Sam Bankman-Fried has filed a pretrial motion to dismiss 10 of 13 charges against him, according to court documents.
Bankman-Fried is under house arrest at his parents’ home in Palo Alto, Calif., ahead of his scheduled trial in October on charges of wire fraud, conspiracy to launder money and conspiracy to use misuse client funds.
He also faces lawsuits from the SEC and the CFTC on similar charges as well as the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York for allegedly bribing Chinese officials “at least $40 million.”
In Monday’s filing, attorneys for Bankman-Fried of the law firm Cohen & Gresser seek to dismiss conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud charges.
Lawyers are also seeking to dismiss a few other charges, including charges of bribery and political contribution.
However, his attorneys did not appeal three counts: conspiracy to commit securities fraud, securities fraud, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
In January, Bankman-Fried pleaded not guilty to eight U.S. criminal counts. The decision, alongside this pre-trial motion, could turn into a lengthy legal battle.
In late December, FTX co-founder and former CTO Gary Wang and Alameda Research CEO Caroline Ellison both pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges related to FTX’s collapse. The two also face civil penalties from the SEC and CFTC alongside the criminal charges.
Wang and Ellison plan to cooperate with prosecutors and will be key witnesses given their close ties to Bankman-Fried and FTX and its affiliate crypto hedge fund, Alameda.
