DIPLOMATIC SQUABBLING

SBF Trial Gets Split in Two—With 5 Counts To Be Tried Next Year

Prosecutors had asked Judge Lewis Kaplan to sever five out of the 13 counts and try them separately.

FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried will face substantially fewer counts at a trial later this year following courtroom squabbling over whether some of the charges violate terms of a treaty with the Bahamas, which extradited the former billionaire in December. Late Wednesday, prosecutors had asked Judge Lewis Kaplan to sever five out of the 13 counts and try them separately next year, depending on the outcome of the Bahamas dispute. On Thursday, the judge affirmed that request, with the second trial currently slated for March 2024. Prosecutors have indicated they will drop some of the charges against Bankman-Fried if the Bahamian government finds in his favor.